Ghana: Black Stars warn Italy
Drawn against Ghana, the Czech Republic and the USA, Italy’s opening opponents in Germany will be the Africans. Steve Wilson reports on the World Cup debutant.
Italy will be meeting Ghana for the first time when the two sides begin their World Cup campaign in Hanover this summer. They appear to be the weakest team in Group E, but Marcello Lippi would be foolish to underestimate ‘The Black Stars’ as they are universally known.
It won’t be a complete meeting of strangers, as there are plenty of Italian connections in the Ghanaian squad. Known as ‘The Brazil of Africa’, and four-time champions of their continent, their most recognisable members to calcio fans are current Roma defender Samuel Kuffour and Udinese midfielder Sulley Ali Muntari. However, there are several others with a fine knowledge of the Italian game.
Cremonese’s John Mensah, Modena’s Gyan Asamoah and Torino’s Mark Edusei are all currently playing in Serie B, while national captain Stephen Appiah spent eight seasons in Italy with Udinese, Brescia and Juventus before his transfer to Turkish side Fenerbahce last summer. “Every match in our group will be tough. But Ghanaians like challenges and when difficult ones like this come along, we take them seriously,” said the 25-year-old midfielder after the draw.
Meanwhile, boss Ratomir Dujkovic played down the importance of getting some insider knowledge. “We have quite a few of our squad with experience of playing in Italy and they know a lot of their players, but that won’t be a key to the match,” he said.
So while Ghana will be a new name in the Azzurri history books, they won’t be a completely unknown element. In fact, they will be dangerous opponents – far more of a concern than maybe most are expecting. Italy’s 1-1 draw in November with another of the African World Cup debutants, the Ivory Coast, raised warning signs that this new order is not a weak alternative to the likes of Nigeria and Cameroon. You need only look at the upsets caused by the latter and Senegal at recent World Cup finals as an example of what could be in store for Marcello Lippi if he underestimates the West Africans.
Elsewhere in their ranks they have Michael Essien, Chelsea’s £24.4m midfielder. The Bison’s battle with Gennaro Gattuso in the centre of the AWD Arena on June 12 is likely to be one of the key factors in who comes out on top.
Attack is perhaps Ghana’s Achilles heel. Without a forward to match the likes of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o or Obafemi Martins, they are perhaps not the same threat in front of goal as some of the other African nations. The closest they have to a star striker is new Borussia Dortmund signing Matthew Amoah, who has emerged as a key player under Dujkovic, hitting three goals in his five qualifying appearances.
While not a side of household names, Amoah believes it is the strong team spirit rather than individual superstars that makes them a danger. “The only famous players we have are Appiah and Essien,” said the 25-year-old. “The rest of the guys are relatively unknown. But we are a strong group. We work for each other. We are as one family and that is the secret of our success.”
The fact that the majority of this side have all played together in Ghana’s successful youth ranks is an important factor in squad spirit. Essien, Muntari, Mensah and several other members of the current squad all appeared in the team which were runners-up to Argentina in the 2001 World Youth Cup.
However, if Italy treat Ghana with a level of respect and play to their full ability, then no one would argue that they should be the clear favourites. Ghana simply do not have the depth of talent available as most of their squad play in lesser European Leagues, while many others are still based in the domestic championship.
Another issue that may aid Italy’s chances are the internal problems which have previously seen Muntari declare he was quitting international football and Kuffour being dropped from the national side altogether.
Kuffour played in only six qualifiers before a row with Dujkovic saw him left out, although he was recalled after a World Cup place was secured. Any more rifts in a squad that confesses to rely on a good team morale and Italy may already have a head start before a ball has even been kicked
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/2006/ghanaview.html 