By Samm Audu
The Graphic newspaper of Ghana headline read – ‘Now is the hour!’ – a day after the Black Stars qualified for the final of this year’s AFCON.
The country’s top newspaper said Ghana must now avenge a 1992 final loss to Cote d’Ivoire in Sunday’s final in Bata, saying it does not make any sense if they could reach the final and not win the cup.
Yes, the Black Stars are now only a game away from ending a 33-year wait for a fifth Africa Cup of Nations trophy after they dumped host nation Equatorial Guinea in a most chaotic semi-final.
Amid a disgraceful riot and several physical confrontations on the pitch in Malabo, Ghana again showed character on Thursday to defeat Nzalang Nacional 3-0 and set up what many have already dubbed the “Dream Final” against Cote d’Ivoire.
After a troubled 2014 World Cup campaign that included the Ghanaian government having to fly out to Brazil millions of dollars to appease the Black Stars and an opening day 2-1 loss to Senegal, not even the most fervent fan fancied the team’s chances in Equatorial Guinea.
“We are here with a very poor team. It will be something of a miracle if we even got out of our group,” lamented one of the Ghana top officials in Mongomo.
The Black Stars, who parade 12 AFCON debutants in Equatorial Guinea, not only got through the tournament’s ‘Group of Death’, they topped it with hard-fought wins over Algeria and South Africa, before they cruised past a poor Guinea team 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
“This young team have shown great mentality, good attitude, especially after what happened at the last World Cup,” praised former Chelsea coach Avram Grant, who only took charge of the Black Stars two months ago but was presented with a most cherished 60th birthday gift on Thursday.
“It is good to be in the final. Before the tournament, nobody gave us a chance. Everyone talked about the other teams. Now we are in the final and we want to win.”
Stand-in skipper Andre Ayew has also saluted the fighting spirit of the team.
“We have won here in Equatorial Guinea with sheer guts, a lot of will power,” remarked the Olympique Marseille forward, who has now scored three goals in this competition.
“We have played here as a team and now we can take something back to Ghana.”
The last time the Black Stars were champions of Africa was in 1982 when Andre’s father, the legendary Abedi Pele, exploded at the tournament in Libya, which they only managed to attend after the host nation flew them in at no charge.
However, for the past four tournaments beginning from the 2008 edition, which they hosted, they have been knocking on the door as they have not failed to qualify for the last-four since then and even reached the final in 2010 when they lost 1-0 to record winners Egypt.
On Sunday, they will be up against a team who denied them a fifth continental trophy in 1992 after a penalty shootout which Cote d’Ivoire won 11-10 after there were no goals in 120 minutes of action.