By James Robert Kayindi
After three attempts to go past the semifinals in vain, the Black Stars of Ghana will be seeking redemption when they take on hosts Equatorial Guinea at this year’s semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations today in Malabo.
The four time champions of the continental tournament are trophy thirsty since their last victory came in 1982 despite having played four semifinals over the years. Ghana made it to the semifinals of 2008, 2012 and 2013 which they all lost. Though they triumphed in 2010 semifinals, they lost 1-0 to Egypt in the finals and are now in their fifth consecutive semifinal of the biennial tournament.
After their recent failures despite all efforts, Ghana’s assistant coach Maxwell Konadu expects the story to be different at this year’s competition.
“We can’t explain why we haven’t taken the title in this time. Football being what it is, sometimes you take your chances, sometimes you don’t. We’ve worked hard to get to this point so now we want to take the opportunity to progress. We know what it means to get this far and be knocked and we’re working hard so that things go in our favour,” Konadu said.
Against all odds, Ghana came through as the log leaders from the group of death, Group C that was composed of Algeria, South Africa and Senegal despite having lost their first game against the Senegalese. They beat Guinea in the Quarter finals with a 3-1 victory and head coach Avram Grant is ready for the big test to see that his side make it to the finals.
“We’ve obviously been to this stage before but the preparation is different this time around. This is why some of us believe we’re going to do a good job,” Grant told Supersport.com.
Meanwhile Equatorial Guinea made it to the semifinals after a controversial win against Tunisia in the quarter finals in a game that went into extra time.
Email Robert: Robert.k.circles@gmail.com
