Ghana national football team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nickname(s) | The Black Stars | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Ghana Football Association | |||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | |||
| Head coach |  Milovan Rajevac[1] |
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| Captain | Stephen Appiah | |||
| Most caps | Abedi Pele (73)[2] | |||
| Top scorer | Abedi Pele (33) | |||
| Home stadium | Ohene Djan Sports Stadium | |||
| FIFA code | GHA | |||
| FIFA ranking | 35 | |||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 14 (February, April, May 2008) | |||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 89 (June 2004) | |||
| Elo ranking | 37 | |||
| Highest Elo ranking | 14 (30 June 1966) | |||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 97 (14 June 2004) | |||
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| First international | ||||
 Gold Coast 1-0 Nigeria  (Accra, Gold Coast; 21 May 1950) |
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| Biggest win | ||||
 Kenya 0-13  Ghana(Nairobi, Kenya; 12 December 1965)[3] |
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| Biggest defeat | ||||
 Brazil 8-2 Ghana (São José do Rio Preto, Brazil; 27 March 1996)[4][5] |
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| World Cup | ||||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2006) | |||
| Best result | Round 2, 2006 | |||
| African Nations Cup | ||||
| Appearances | 16 (First in 1963) | |||
| Best result | Winners, 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982 |
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| Olympic medal record | ||
| Men's Football | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 1992 Barcelona[6] | 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[7] (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 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[6], 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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 Kenya, 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 DR Congo and Sudan respectively. Their domination of this tournament earned the country the nickname of "the Brazil of Africa" in the 1960s[8]. 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 Côte d'Ivoire.
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[6], 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 Italy, but wins over the Czech Republic (2-0) and USA (2-1) saw them through to the second round, where they were beaten 3-0 by Brazil.
[edit] Team honours
- African Cup of Nations runners-up: 3
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- 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987
- All-African Games: 2 Bronze medals
-
- 1978, 2003
[edit] World Cup record
- 1962 - Did Not Qualify
- 1966 - Withdrew from Qualification
- 1970 to 1978 - Did Not Qualify
- 1982 - Withdrew from Qualification
- 1986 to 2002 - Did Not Qualify
- 2006 - Second Round
[edit] African Nations Cup Record
| African Cup of Nations | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titles: 4 Appearances: 16 |
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| Year | Position | Year | Position | Year | Position | ||||
 1957 |
Did not enter |  1976 |
Did not qualify |  1994 |
Fourth Place | ||||
 1959 |
Did not enter | 1978 |
Champions |  1996 |
Fourth Place | ||||
 1962 |
Did not qualify |  1980 |
Round 1 |  1998 |
Round 1 | ||||
| 1963 |
Champions |  1982 |
Champions | 2000 |
Quarter-finals | ||||
| 1965 |
Champions |  1984 |
Round 1 |  2002 |
Quarter-finals | ||||
| 1968 |
Second Place | 1986 |
Did not qualify | 2004 |
Did not qualify | ||||
| 1970 |
Second Place |  1988 |
Did not qualify | 2006 |
Round 1 | ||||
 1972 |
Did not qualify |  1990 |
Did not qualify | 2008 |
Third Place | ||||
 1974 |
Did not qualify |  1992 |
Second Place |  2010 |
Qualification | ||||
For 2010, see 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
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[9].
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 |
| Round of 16 | Brazil |
3-0 | Ghana |
27 June | Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund | Brazil: Ronaldo 5, Adriano 45+, Ze Roberto 84) [1] First Half; Second Half |
| Group E | Ghana |
2-1 |  United States |
22 June | Frankenstadion, Nuremberg | Ghana Dramani 22, Appiah 47+; USA: Clint Dempsey 43)[2] Pre-Match; 1st Half; 2nd half |
| Group E | Ghana |
2-0 |  Czech Republic |
17 June | RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne | Ghana: Asamoah 2, Muntari 82) [3] |
| Group E |  Italy |
2-0 | Ghana |
12 June | AWD-Arena, Hannover | Italy: Pirlo, 40 Iaquinta 83)[4] |
[edit] Current squad
- Goalkeepers
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Kingson | June 13, 1978 |  Wigan Athletic |
49 (1) | v Brazil, 27 March 1996 |
| William Amamoo | April 4, 1982 |  Vasalunds IF |
1 (0) | v Australia, 23 May 2008 |
| George Owu | July 7, 1982 | Al-Masry |
8 (0) | v Somalia, 19 November 2003 |
- Defenders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Inkoom | August 22, 1989 |  FC Basel |
4 (0) | v Tunisia, 20 November 2008 |
| Hans Sarpei | June 28, 1976 |  Bayer Leverkusen |
24 (0) | v Zimbabwe, 7 November 2000 |
| Isaac Vorsah | June 21, 1988 | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim |
5 (0) | |
| Eric Addo | November 12, 1978 |  Roda JC |
32 (0) | v Tunisia, 9 February 1998 |
| Harrison Afful | June 24, 1986 | Asante Kotoko |
13 (0) | v Ivory Coast, 9 February 2008 |
| Francis Dickoh | December 13, 1982 | Utrecht |
11 (0) | v Saudi Arabia 14 November 2005 |
| John Mensah (vc) | November 29, 1982 |  Lyon |
60 (0) | v Algeria 5 December 2001 |
| John Paintsil | June 15, 1981 | Fulham |
52 (0) | v Algeria, 5 December 2001 |
| Issah Ahmed | May 24, 1982 |  Randers FC |
13 (0) | v Burkina Faso 5 June 2005 |
| John Boye | April 23, 1987 | Rennes |
3 (0) | v Gabon 22 June 2008 |
- Midfielders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Appiah (c) | December 24, 1980 | Free Agent | 53 (14) | v Benin, 24 December 1996 |
| Michael Essien | December 3, 1982 | Chelsea |
45 (8) | v Egypt 4 January 2002 |
| Laryea Kingston | November 7, 1980 |  Hearts |
34 (6) | v Congo DR, 27 March 2005 |
| Sulley Ali Muntari | August 27, 1984 | Inter Milan |
47 (12) | v Slovenia, 17 May 2002 |
| Agyeman Prempeh Opoku | June 7, 1989 |  Al-Sadd Sports Club |
2 (0) | |
| Anthony Annan | July 21, 1986 |  Rosenborg |
21 (0) | v Austria 24 March 2007 |
| Ahmed Barusso | December 26, 1984 | A.C. Siena on loan from AS Roma |
5 (1) | v Rwanda, 6 July 2003 |
| Prince Buaben | April 23, 1988 | Dundee United |
1 (0) | v Australia 23 May 2008 |
| Haminu Dramani | April 1, 1986 |  Kuban Krasnodar |
34 (3) | v Saudi Arabia 14 November 2005 |
| Moussa Narry | April 19, 1986 | Auxerre |
3 (0) | v Togo, 18 November 2007 |
| André Ayew | December 17, 1989 | FC Lorient on loan from Marseille |
10 (0) | v Senegal, 21 August 2007 |
- Strikers
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Amoah | October 24, 1980 | NAC Breda |
29 (11) | v ? |
| Peter Ofori-Quaye | March 21, 1980 |  AEL Limassol |
32 (17) | v ? |
| Asamoah Gyan | November 22, 1985 | Rennes |
27 (13) | v Somalia, 19 November 2003 |
| Junior Agogo | August 1, 1979 | Zamalek |
26 (11) | v Japan 4 October 2006 |
| Emmanuel Badu Agyeman | February 12, 1990 | Berekum Arsenal |
2 (0) | v Australia 23 May 2008 |
| Chris Dickson | December 28, 1984 | Charlton |
1 (0) | v Tanzania, 20 August 2008 |
| Eric Bekoe | December 10, 1986 | Asante Kotoko |
5 (0) | v Mexico, 26 March 2008 |
| Quincy Owusu-Abeyie | April 15, 1986 |  Cardiff City |
10 (1) | v Guinea, 20 January 2008 |
| Prince Tagoe | November 9, 1986 | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim |
16 (3) | v Togo 11 January 2006 |
[edit] Recent callups
The following players have also been called up to the Ghana squad recently:
[edit] Most Capped Players
As of June 8, 2009
| # | Player | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abédi "Pelé" Ayew | 73 |
| 2 | Karim Abdul Razak | 70 |
| 3 | Yaw Preko | 68 |
| 4 | Richard Kingston | 62 |
| 5 | John Mensah | 61 |
| 6= | Anthony Yeboah | 59 |
| 6= | Samuel Osei Kuffour | 59 |
| 8 | Stephen Appiah | 56 |
| 9 | John Paintsil | 52 |
| 10 | Charles Akonnor | 51 |
[edit] Top Goalscorers
As of June 8, 2009
| # | Player | Goals | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abédi "Pelé" Ayew | 33 | 73 |
| 2 | Anthony Yeboah | 29 | 59 |
| 3 | Karim Abdul Razak | 25 | 70 |
[edit] Previous Nations Cup squads
[edit] APOY and other award winning 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 was listed in the 2004 "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers.
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.
- 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 Shoe1991
- 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
[edit] 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 |
[edit] Head coaches
^Won African Cup of Nations during tenure
[edit] Competitive Statistics
Nations Cup Record by team
West African Nations Cup [SCSA Zone III] Record
[edit] Trivia
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Titles
[edit] References
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