Agyemang Badu is challenged by two Bosnia-Herzegovina players during Wednesday's match in Sarajevo. (Photo: ZumaPress)
Ghana’s road to the finals of the African Cup of Nations bolstered hopes for an African winner in South Africa, with Milovan Rajevac riding a deep youth talent pool through that tournament. Ultimately up-ended by Egypt, the Black Stars had reason to think their CAN team, augmented by the veterans who missed the competition, would be a threat in South Africa.
Without reading too much into a single friendly, Ghana has reason to entertain doubts after losing 2-1 Wednesday to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
While a close loss to the near-qualifiers in Sarajevo is, on the surface, acceptable (Bosnia-Herzegonvina is a fine squad), the matter in which Ghana lost must concern the team’s fans.
As was the case in every match of the Cup of Nations, the Black Stars failed to prove themselves dangerous in attack. A nice, 20-meter left-footed shot from Sulley Muntari gave them an early lead. After that, the Black Stars failed to take advantage of a Bosnia and Herzegovina defense that many consider vulnerable.
The hosts would comeback with goals from Vedad Ibisevic (40′) and Miralem Pjanic (65′), and Edin Dezko made himself dangerous throughout. Ghana was unable to keep up.
The Cup of Nations runners-up looked restrained and ineffectual.
Three factors inhibited the Black Stars.
The team was without Micheal Essien, Isaac Vorsah and Opoku Agyemang, all potentially major contributors come South Africa. Essien, in particular, represents one of Ghana’s few chances to create goals.
Another person who can get goals, Asamoah Gyan, was on the bench to start the match, as was André Ayew. Both were subbed on in the second half. Whether these two players would be part of a choice starting XI for Rajevac is unclear. The Serbian coach has not started a full team since the end of qualifying, and with the emergence of young players like Kwadwo Asamoah – their best player at the Cup of Nations – it’s unclear what a full strength side would look like.
The final factor holding back Ghana occurred in the first half, when Asamoah had to leave this match with an injury. The young Udinese midfielder has quickly become the senior team’s best distributor. He will fit well in an attacking role above Essien, should both be healthy for South Africa. Today, once Asamoah left, Ghana lost one of their few means of getting into attack.
This is not to say that based on today’s performance Ghana should not be considered a threat this summer. However, the Black Stars have failed to answer the questions raised before and during their Cup of Nations run.
Rajevac still needs to determine how (or if) he is going to integrate talent from the team that won last summer’s U-20 World Cup. He needs to decide on a formation – whether he will eventually play Gyan and Matthew Amoah together (or if Dominic Adiyiah will get in here). He needs to determine of a healthy Stephen Appiah will have a place in his side, and it will help if he determined his side’s capabilities, lest he adopt a style that is too ambitious for his talent (or not ambitious enough).
After getting no input into those issues, Rajevac’s May training may be more critical than any other coach’s. Ghana can be a contender for the world title or be eliminated in the first round, having drawn a tough group.
Which it will be is difficult to predict, as Rajevac has been unwilling to put Ghana’s best foot forward.
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