Black Stars Poised To Rule Africa In Today's Chan Final Against Libya

A few hours from now, Ghana�s home-based Black Stars are expected to write their names in the annals of Africa and Ghanaian football when they clash with Libya in the grand final of the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) in South Africa. After a staggering start in the competition against Congo Brazzaville, the Stars managed to hold their heads high against Libya and Ethiopia to top their group. The trend then continued when the Black Stars held on to their �lone goal project� to scale the DR Congo hurdle in the quarter-final and subsequently struggled through a nerve-wrecking penalty shootout after 120 minutes of play to push aside arch-rivals Nigeria to qualify for the final. That exhilarating performance by the Stars against Nigeria last Wednesday raised the hopes of many Ghanaians who had written the team off after series of unimpressive play in their preliminary engagements but the semi-final display and the confidence with which Michael Akuffo, Theophilus Anobaah, Asiedu Attobrah and Abeiku Ainooson converted their penalty kicks against Nigeria have won the hearts of many, including the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who has promised to be at the Cape Town stadium today to rally behind the team to overcome the Libyans. Being cognisant of the fate that befell the Black Stars in their maiden CHAN competition in the year 2009 in Cote d�Ivoire when DR Congo suprised Ghana with a 2-0 win in the final after the latter had earlier lost 2:0 in the group match, Coach Maxwell Konadu and his boys must be very much aware of the task ahead against Libya, especially where the Libyans came back strongly to level up after Yahaya Mohammed had put the Stars ahead in their second group C meeting. The North Africans, like the Ghanaians, know themselves so well and while they will be relying on the likes of Abdelsalam faraj Omar, Faisal Mansour Ali, Elmutashem Abushnaf and Abdel Rahman Ramadan Fetori, who are familiar with the stars� style of play, their Ghanaian opponents will also parade the same old faces, including Stephen Adams, skipper Jordan Opoku, Nuru Sulley, Theophilus Anobaah and Seidu Bansey. Much, therefore, lies on the shoulders of the handlers of the team led by Coach Konadu to repeat the dose against Libya today, bearing in mind the experience of the Black Stars at the 2009 CHAN competition in Cote D� ivoire. Having this in mind, the Black Stars must remain disciplined, eschew any form of complacency and concentrate throughout the match and fight to the end. With that approach, coupled with the right tactical direction, nothing short of victory will come the way of the Black Stars today, and the skipper of the side, Jordan Opoku, and his colleagues have no reason to faulter than to strive to be counted among the history-makers in Ghana football.