Ghana_national_football_team

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Ghana national football team

The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association. Before gaining independence from Great Britain in 1957, the country played as the Gold Coast.

Although the team did not qualify for the senior FIFA World Cup until 2006 they had actually qualified for five straight Olympic Games Football Tournaments when the tournament was still a full senior National Team competition. The team have won the African Cup of Nations four times (in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982), making Ghana the second most successful team in the contest's history, behind Egypt.

Ghanaian teams has enjoyed considerable success at in FIFA's age-restricted tournaments. The Ghana U17 team, the Black Starlets, have won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup title twice and finished as runner-up twice. The Ghana U20 team, the Black Satellites, have also finished as runner-up at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup twice. The Ghana Olympic Team, the Black Meteors, became the first African Country to win a medal in Football at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

After going through 2005 unbeaten, Ghana won the FIFA World Rankings Most Improved team of the year award and they reached the second round of the 2006 Germany World Cup.

History

The Ghana Amateur Football Association was founded in 1957, soon after the country's independence, and was affiliated to both CAF and FIFA the following year, Englishman George Ainsley being appointed coach of the national team.

In 1960, the Black Stars played Spanish giants Real Madrid, who were at the time Spanish, European and intercontinental champions, and drew 3-3.

Charles Kumi Gyamfi became coach in 1961, and Ghana won successive African Cup of Nations titles, in 1963 and 1965, and achieved their record win, 13-0 away to , shortly after the second of these. They also reached the final of the tournament in 1968 and 1970, losing 1-0 on each occasion, to and respectively. Their domination of this tournament earned the country the nickname of "the Brazil of Africa" in the 1960s. The team had no success in FIFA World Cup qualification during this era, and failed to qualify for three successive African Cup of Nations in the 1970s, but qualified for the Olympic Games Football Tournaments, reaching the quarter finals in 1964 and withdrawing on political grounds in 1976 and 1980.

Ghana again won the African Cup of Nations in 1978, retaining the Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem Trophy in perpetuity for having won it three times, and 1982, but a relatively barren period followed, with the full national team dominating the short lived West African Nations Cup from 1982-87, but making little progress in continent-wide competitions until the appointment of Burkhard Ziese as coach in 1991. The 1992 African Cup of Nations, after three failures to reach the final tournament, saw Ghana finish second, beaten on penalties in the final by .

Disharmony among the squad, which eventually lead to parliamentary and executive intervention to settle issues between two of the team, Abedi Pele and Anthony Yeboah, may have played some part in the failure of the team to build on the successes of the national underage teams. Ghana slipped to 89th place in the FIFA World Rankings, but a new generation of players who went to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship final became the core of the team at the 2002 African Cup of Nations and the 2004 Olympic Games, and were undefeated for a year in 2005 and reached the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the first time the team had reached the global stage of the tournament. Ghana started with a 2-0 defeat to eventual champions , but wins over the (2-0) and (2-1) saw them through to the second round, where they were beaten 3-0 by .

Team honours

World Cup record

1930 to 1958 - Did not enter
1962 - Did not qualify
1966 - Withdrew
1970 to 1978 - Did not qualify
1982 - Withdrew
1986 to 2002 - Did not qualify
2006 - Round 2

African Nations Cup record

1957 - Did not enter
1959 - Did not enter
1962 - Did not qualify
1963 - Champions
1965 - Champions
1968 - Second place
1970 - Second place
1972 to 1976 - Did not qualify

1978 - Champions
1980 - Round 1
1982 - Champions
1984 - Round 1
1986 to 1990 - Did not qualify
1992 - Second place
1994 - Quarterfinals

1996 - Fourth place
1998 - Round 1
2000 - Quarterfinals
2002 - Quarterfinals
2004 - Did not qualify
2006 - Round 1
2008 - Third Place

Ghana started with a 2-0 defeat to Italy. However, they bounced back with a shock 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic , followed by a 2-1 victory over the USA team , to finish second in Group E and continue through to the next round along with eventual Champions Italy.

Ghana's unlikely run ended when they met defending World Champions Brazil in the Second Round. Influential player Michael Essien was suspended from the match for his two yellow card's earlier in the Tournament. Despite all of this, Ghana dictated the style and pace of this match, surprising many with several near-goals. In the end, Brazil won 3-0, although there was some controversy over the first two goals scored by Ronaldo and Adriano as they were both offside. Slovakian referee Ľuboš Micheľ also sent off Asamoah Gyan in the 82' for falling in the Brazilian penalty area. Zé Roberto scored the third for Brazil off a breakaway soon after.

Ghana were the only African side to advance to Round 2 of 2006 FIFA World Cup (Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Angola, and Tunisia were all eliminated in group play), and the sixth nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup. Ghana was the youngest team in the FIFA World Cup 2006 with an average age of 23 yrs and 352 days.

Because of Ghana's performances in the tournament, there has been praise for their continuous efforts to push forward and their fearless attitude. Greece Coach Otto Rehhagel told FIFA.com, the teams you used to regard as a little behind tactically, the Africans for example, have caught up They're physically even better off than we are, as they have tremendous natural athleticism, and they've come on enormously in the areas which were non-existent before, discipline and tactics for example. Every team which faced Ghana or Cote d'Ivoire knew they'd been in a game. FIFA.com says Black stars ascend to glory BBC says: Ghana going forward.

Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ghana was ranked the 13th Best Nation by FIFA.

2006 FIFA World Cup Matches
Category	Team A	Result	Team B	Date	Venue	Scorers
Brazil knock-out Ghana 3-0 to grab quarter-final place		3-0	Ghana	27 June	Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund	Brazil: Ronaldo 5, Adriano 45+, Ze Roberto 84) First Half; Second Half
Group E	Ghana	2-1		22 June	Frankenstadion, Nuremberg	Ghana Dramani 22, Appiah 47+; USA: Clint Dempsey 43) Pre-Match; 1st Half; 2nd half
Group E	Ghana	2-0		17 June	RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne	Ghana: Asamoah 2, Muntari 82)
Group E		2-0	Ghana	12 June	AWD-Arena, Hannover	Italy: Pirlo, 40 Iaquinta 83)

Recent results

Category	Team A	Result	Date	Venue	Goal Scorers
2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier	Libya	1-0	5 September 2008	June 11 Stadium, Tripoli, Libya	Libya: Ahmed Osman 86'
Friendly	Tanzania	1-1	20 August 2008	Sheikh Amri Abeid, Arusha, Tanzania	Ghana: Richard Kingson 83', Tanzania: Henry Joseph 34'
2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier	Ghana	2-0	22 June 2008	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Ghana: Tagoe 30' , Muntari 78'
2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier	Gabon	2-0	14 June 2008	Stade Omar Bongo, Libreville, Gabon	Gabon: Rogur Meye 45'+1,Stephane N'Guema 58'
2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier	Lesotho	2-3	8 June 2008	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa	Ghana: Kingston 16', Agogo 41', 63'; Lesotho: Sello Muso 90'+2, Lehlohonolo Seema 90'+3
2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier	Ghana	3-0	1 June 2008	Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Ghana	Ghana: Tagoe 16', Kingston 55', Agogo 67'
Friendly	Australia	1-0	23 May 2008	Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia	Australia: Sterjovski 46'
Friendly	Ghana	1-2	26 March 2008	Craven Cottage, London, England	Ghana: Essien 55' ; Mexico: Salcido 76' , Pardo 85' pen.
2008 African Cup of Nations	Ghana	4-2	09 February 2008	Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Ghana	Ghana: Muntari 10, Owusu-Abeyie 70, Agogo 80, Dramani 84; Ivory Coast: Sanogo 24, 32
2008 African Cup of Nations	Ghana	0-1	07 February 2008	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Cameroon: Nkong 71
2008 African Cup of Nations	Ghana	2-1	03 February 2008	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Ghana: Essien 47+, Agogo 83; Nigeria: Yakubu 35 (pen.)
2008 African Cup of Nations	Ghana	2-0	28 January 2008	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Ghana: Essien 26, Muntari 89
2008 African Cup of Nations	Ghana	1-0	24 January 2008	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Ghana: Agogo 41
2008 African Cup of Nations	Ghana	2-1	20 January 2008	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Ghana: Asamoah 55, Muntari 89; Guinea: Kalabane 65
Friendly	Ghana	4-2	21 November 2007	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Ghana: Agogo 47, Kingston 78, 86, Appiah 84; Benin: Sessegnon 25, Omotoyossi 46
Friendly	Ghana	2-0	18 November 2007	Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana	Ghana: Baffour 53, Kingston 63

Current squad

Head coach: Milovan Rajevac Appointed on 12 August, 2008

Most Recent Squad
Date announced	28 August 2008
Game(s)	, 5 September
Venue(s)	June 11 Stadium, Tripoli, Libya
Competition	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
Dropped	Ayew, Narry, Barusso, Boye
Debutant(s)	None
Injured	*Sarpei, Asamoah, Tagoe
Called Up	Inkoom, Quartey
Notes	Mario Balotelli Excused

Goalkeepers

Name	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Richard Kingson	Wigan Athletic F.C.	60 (1)	v Brazil, 27 March 1996
William Amamoo	Vasalund-Essinge IF	1 (0)	v Australia, 23 May 2008
George Owu	Al-Masry	7 (0)	v Somalia, 19 November 2003

Defenders

Name	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Hans Sarpei	Bayer Leverkusen	23 (0)	v Zimbabwe, 7 November 2000
Eric Addo	PSV Eindhoven	29 (0)	v Tunisia, 9 February 1998
Harrison Afful	KV Mechelen	8 (0)	v Ivory Coast, 9 February 2008
Francis Dickoh	Utrecht	11 (0)	v Saudi Arabia 14 November 2005
John Mensah (vc)	Olympique Lyonnais	58 (0)	v Algeria 5 December 2001
John Pantsil	Fulham F.C.	46 (0)	v Algeria, 5 December 2001
Issah Ahmed	Randers FC	13 (0)	v Burkina Faso 5 June 2005
John Boye	Stade Rennais	2 (0)	v Gabon 22 June 2008

Midfielders

Name	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Stephen Appiah (c)	Fenerbahçe	54 (13)	v Benin, 24 December 1996
Michael Essien	Chelsea	43 (8)	v Egypt 4 January 2002
Laryea Kingston	Heart of Midlothian	30 (6)	v Congo DR, 27 March 2005
Sulley Ali Muntari	Internazionale Milano	43 (12)	v Slovenia, 17 May 2002
Anthony Annan	Rosenborg	17 (0)	v Austria 24 March 2007
Ahmed Barusso	A.C. Siena on loan from AS Roma	7 (1)	v Rwanda, 6 July 2003
Prince Buaben	Dundee United	1 (0)	v Australia 23 May 2008
Haminu Dramani	Stoke City on loan from Lokomotiv Moscow	28 (3)	v Saudi Arabia 14 November 2005
Moussa Narry	AJ Auxerre	3 (0)	v Togo, 18 November 2007
André Ayew	FC Lorient on loan from Marseille	10 (0)	v Senegal, 21 August 2007

Strikers

Name	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Asamoah Gyan	Stade Rennais	27 (13)	v Somalia, 19 November 2003
Junior Agogo	Zamalek	22 (10)	v Japan 4 October 2006
Emmanuel Badu Agyeman	Berekum Arsenal	2 (0)	v Australia 23 May 2008
Chris Dickson	Charlton Athletic	1 (0)	v Tanzania, 20 August 2008
Matthew Amoah	NAC Breda	25 (7)	v Morocco 21 January 2002
Eric Bekoe	Asante Kotoko	4 (0)	v Mexico, 26 March 2008
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie	Birmingham City on loan from Spartak Moscow	10 (1)	v Guinea, 20 January 2008
Prince Tagoe	Al-Ittifaq	8 (2)	v Togo 11 January 2006

Recent callups

The following players have also been called up to the Ghana squad recently:

Name	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent callup
DF Daniel Opare	Real Madrid	0 (0)	N/A	v Togo, 18 November 2007
FW Derek Asamoah	OGC Nice	3 (0)	v Korea Republic, 8 October 2006	v Australia, 23 May 2008
GK Patrick Antwi	Liberty Professionals	1 (0)	v Mexico, 26 March 2008	v Mexico, 26 March 2008
DF Richard Manu	Asante Kotoko	0 (0)	N/A	v Mexico, 26 March 2008
FW Baffour Gyan	FC Saturn	33 (5)	v Sudan, 25 February 2001	v Libya, 1 June 2008
DF Kofi Amponsah	Apollon Kalamarias	0 (0)	N/A	v Libya, 1 June 2008
FW Ransford Osei	Maccabi Haifa	0 (0)	N/A	v Togo, 18 November 2007
GK Sammy Adjei	FC Ashdod	34 (0)	v Sudan, 25 February 2001	2008 African Nations Cup
GK Abdul Fatawu Dauda	Ashanti Gold SC	1 (0)	2008 African Cup of Nations, 20 January 2008	2008 African Nations Cup
DF Nana Akwasi Asare	KV Mechelen	2 (0)	v Morocco, 8 September 2007	2008 African Nations Cup
MF Bennard Yao Kumordzi	Panionios	4 (1)	v Brazil, 27 March 2007	v Tanzania, 20 August 2008
FW Kwadwo Asamoah	Torino Calcio	0 (0)	N/A	2008 African Nations Cup
FW Nafiu Idrissu	Dhafra	0 (0)	N/A	v Togo, 18 November 2007
MF Derek Boateng	Beitar Jerusalem	18 (3)	v Mali, 25 December 2001	v Tanzania, 20 August 2008

Previous Nations Cup squads

Famous players

Ghana has had great players in their rich history from the early 1950s, through the 1960s ANC Championship sides to 1970 when CAF instituted a new African Footballer of the Year Best player Awards to the 1990s when Abédi Pelé and Tony Yeboah received FIFA World Player of the Year top ten nominations and the 2000s when Sammy Kuffour and Michael Essien became FIFA World Class Players and received Ballon d'Or nominations. Ghana has never been short of talent. Abédi Pelé is one of the "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers of all-time.

On 13 January 2007, the Confederation of African Football voted Abedi Pele, Michael Essien, Tony Yeboah, Ibrahim Abdul Razak and Samuel Kuffour as members of the CAF Top 30 Best African Players of all-time. In addition, Abedi and Yeboah were voted as members of the Africa Best Player of the Century in 1999 by IFFHS.

Arthur Wharton - English Football Hall of Fame 2003, first black association professional footballer though he preceded the 'Black Stars' era and played mainly in England.
Abédi Pelé - FIFA 100, WPOY Nom.1991, 9th 1992, 1991, 1992, 1993 APOY Winner, APOY Nom. 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 5th Best African Player of All-Time
Karim Abdul Razak - 1978 APOY Winner, 6th 1983, 26th Best African Player of All-Time
Ibrahim Sunday - 1971 APOY Winner
Samuel Kuffour - Ballon d'Or Nom. 2001, APOY Runner-up 1999, 2001, 27th Best African Player of All-Time
Tony Yeboah - WPOY 9th 1993, Ballon d'Or 23rd 1995, APOY Runner-up 1993, 3rd 1992, 6th 1991, 10th 1996, 24th Best African Player of All-Time
Michael Essien - FIFA World Player of the Year – 22nd 2005, 22nd 2006, 15th 2007; Ballon d'Or – 24th 2007 27th 2006, 22nd 2005; APOY – 2nd 2007, 3rd 2006, 3rd 2005, 11th Best African Player of All-Time
Robert Mensah - APOY Runner-up 1971, 9th 1970
Adolf Armah - APOY Runner-up 1979
Opoku Nti - APOY Runner-up 1983
Mohammed Polo - APOY 4th 1977
Nii Lamptey - APOY 5th 1991, FIFA U-17 Golden Ball, Silver Shoe 1991
Yaw Sam - APOY 6th 1973
Malik Jabir - APOY 7th 1972
Albert Asaase - APOY 7th 1982
Charles Akunnor - APOY 7th 1998
Osei Kofi - APOY 8th 1970
Opoku Afriyie - APOY 8th 1982
Stephen Appiah - APOY 8th 2003
Daniel Addo - FIFA U-17 Golden Ball 1993
Ishmael Addo - FIFA U-17 Golden Shoe 1999
Owusu Afriyie - FIFA U-17 Bronze Shoe 1997

Other notable players

Technical staff

Head Coach	Milovan Rajevac
Assistant Coach	Akwasi Appiah
Fitness Coach	Vacant
Goalkeeping Coach	Edward Ansah
Psychologist	Dr. Yao Mfodwo
Physiotherapist	Charles Botchway
Team Doctor	Dr Percy Annan
2nd Team Doctor	Dr Allan Akaba
Welfare Officer	Opoku Afriyie
Protocol Officer	Alex Asante
Spokesman	Randy Abbey
Kit Manager	Sherif Bobo Musah

Head coaches

Date appointed	Manager name
2008 - Present	Milovan Rajevac
2006 - 2008	Claude Le Roy
2004 - 2006	Ratomir Dujković
2004	Sam Arday (interim)
2004	Mariano Barreto
2003	Ralf Zumdick
2003	Burkhard Ziese
2002	Emmanuel Akwasi Afranie
2002	Milan Živadinović
2001 - 2002	Fred Osam-Duodu
2001	Cecil Jones Attuquayefio
2000	Fred Osam-Duodu
1999 - 2000	Giuseppe Dossena

Date appointed	Manager name
1997 - 1998	Rinus Israël
1996 - 1997	Sam Arday
1996	Ismael Kurtz
1995	Petre Gavrilla
1995	Jørgen E. Larsen
1994	E.J. Aggrey-Fynn
1993	Fred Osam-Duodu
1992 - 1993	Otto Pfister
1990 - 1992	Burkhard Ziese
1988 - 1989	Fred Osam-Duodu
1986 - 1987	Rudi Gutendorf
1984	Herbert Addo

Date appointed	Manager name
1984	Emmanuel Akwasi Afranie
1982 - 1983	C. K. Gyamfi^
1978 - 1981	Fred Osam-Duodu^
1977 - 1978	O. C. Sampaio
1974 - 1975	Karl Weigang
1968 - 1970	Karl Heinz Marotzke
1967	Carlos Alberto Parreira
1963 - 1965	C. K. Gyamfi^
1963	Josef Ember
1959 - 1962	Adreas Sjolberg
1958 - 1959	George Ainsley

^Won African Cup of Nations during tenure

Competitive Statistics

FIFA World Cup Record:

FIFA World Cup Record	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
World Cup Finals	4	2	0	2	4	6	-2
World Cup Quals (H)	30	20	8	2	57	17	+40
World Cup Quals (A)	29	7	8	14	31	38	-7
World Cup Total	63	29	16	18	92	61	+31

African Cup of Nations Record:

Nations Cup Record	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Nations Cup Finals	66	37	13	16	91	56	+35
Nations Cup Quals (H)	31	22	6	3	69	23	+46
Nations Cup Quals (A)	31	11	8	12	42	31	+11
Nations Cup Total	128	70	27	31	202	110	+92

Nations Cup Record by team

Ghana versus	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
8	5	1	2	17	11	+6
6	5	1	0	10	4	+6
5	3	0	2	8	5	+3
6	2	1	3	6	7	-1
3	2	1	0	4	2	+2
3	3	0	0	7	2	+5
4	3	1	0	5	2	+3
3	2	0	1	3	2	+1
3	1	1	1	3	4	-1
3	0	1	2	0	4	-4
2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
3	1	1	1	2	1	+1
2	1	0	1	3	1	+2
2	2	0	0	5	1	+4
3	0	2	1	1	2	-1
2	0	2	0	3	3	0
2	1	0	1	3	2	+1
1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
1	0	0	1	1	2	-1
Total	66	37	13	16	91	56	+35

West African Nations Cup [SCSA Zone III] Record

Year	Venue	Round	Position	GP	W	D	GF	GA	GD
1982		Final	Winner	5	3	2	14	8	+6
1983		Final	Winner	4	3	1	7	2	+5
1984		Final	Winner	5	2	3	9	5	+4
1986		Final	Winner	6	5	1	12	2	+10
1987		Final	Winner	5	5	0	14	2	+12
Total	5/5	5 Finals	5 Championships	25	18	7	56	19	+37'''

The Tournament was not held in 1985.

Trivia

Ghana hosted and won the Original African Cup of Nations Trophy (Known as The Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem Trophy) for Keeps in 1978 as they became the first Country to win three Nations Cup titles.

In the final of the 1992 African Cup of Nations on 26 January 1992, Ghana was defeated 11-10 by the Côte d'Ivoire in the highest-scoring penalty shoot-out in International football competition at the time- the 24-shot shoot-out, when Ghana played their record 7th African Cup of Nations final game. Ghana captain and influential play maker Abédi Pelé, who won the best player of that tournament was suspended for the final because of yellow card accumulation from the 2-1 semi-final win over Nigeria.

Of the 32 countries which participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ghana was ranked the 13th Best Nation by FIFA.

Kwesi Owusu, former Black Stars captain, was the first footballer to score a goal at the Munich Olympic Stadium during the 1972 Olympic Games. His photograph still stands erect at one of the Olympic Villages in Olympiapark, Munich, Germany.