5 LESSONS FROM GABON/EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Success has many fathers but failure is an Orphan- English Proverb

The Africa Cup of Nations is finally over and normal businesses are back in place. Most soccer analyst just like Ghanaians have a learnt a lot of lessons in the competition.
Many thought the last co-host in the African Cup of Nations competition was the perfect time Ghana could have ended the 30 year Trophy drought but the least said the better.
For now Asamoah Gyan, Prince Tagoe, Adam Kwarasey and Coach Goran Stevanovic have received their fair share of ‘national cake’ of insults and accusations.
So I don’t want to re-visit that issue to muddy the waters. All I can say is that we are waiting for the GFA to hold their press conference on February 22 to announce a new local coach for the black stars!
The 28th edition of the Nations Cup was full of lessons depending which angle your lens is focused. As Henry Ford ones said "Don't find fault, find a remedy." Below are the 5 lessons that can be learnt from the tournament.
1. Don’t Despise Small Begins
Sometimes I asked if Dede Ayew and Kwadwo Asamoah were the same players in the Black Stars during the 2008 nations cup? The two boys received a lot of criticism during that time. But just 4 years down the lane the boys are in demand. Indeed, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
2. Don’t get too comfortable
Most penalty kicks that were saved in the 2012 nation’s cup occurred just when the player got too comfortable for the kick. Getting too comfortable hinders growth and hinders success. Getting too comfortable will prevent you from climbing to the top of the mountain and if you are the top, it will stop you from touching the sky. Always get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. All the pre-tournament favorites Senegal, Cote D’ Ivoire and Ghana lost because at some point they got too comfortable to challenge themselves.
3 Prepare adequately
The black stars failed to prepare adequately for the tournament but relying on past victories and history as enough motivation. As the saying goes, if you fail to prepare you prepare to fail. Ghanaians just like the Black Stars were full of themselves and forgot to prepare at hand for the tournament. Coach Plavi decided to focus on Diaspora players while paying little attention to the local league. By now he should know that the Nations Cup is for Africans and Africans knows how to win to it!
3. Foresight and long term benefits
Kalusha Bwalya once said “You think you are clever, I will sort you out. You are messing around with a wrong guy.” The Zambia FA boss has yielded the results of having the foresight and long term goals. The team began building a winning team in Ghana 2008. The same team members have been playing together for the past three to four years under Coach Herve Renard (once physical trainer of the black stars). Having foresight and long term plans tastes sweet atlast.

5. Taking Risk
Ghana line up 23 men for the tournament without a striker and wondered how they were going to annex the trophy. As Christopher Opoku will put it- it would have been one of the wonders of the world if Ghana won the cup. The reason why doctors and psychologist, physiotherapist were in the black stars camp was because of Captain John Mensah and Asamoah Gyan. The two boys were just nursing their injuries, half fit and needed to be rested or other options chosen for the tournament.