Ghana look to diaspora for backing as Partey case and years of flux cloud planning

T hat it took Ghana until 2006 to qualify for the World Cup , despite being African football’s dominant team of the 1960s, 70s and the early 80s, winning the Africa Cup of Nations four times during this period, reflects the topsy-turvy nature of their football odyssey. “The journey of the Black Stars over the last four decades has been marked by long periods of disappointment,” says Gary Al-Smith, one of the country’s most respected football journalists. “We had a surge between 2006 and 2017, when we qualified for eight straight semi-finals at Afcon but never won anything. Yes, we had a quarter-final appearance at the 2010 World Cup , but our record overall has been pockmarked with great highlights but never a trophy. There has been nothing to celebrate.” The lack of managerial stability has certainly not helped Ghana’s quest for Afcon and World Cup glory. In the past five years they have had five coaches – Charles Akonnor, Milovan Rajevac, Chris Hughton and Otto Addo (in two spells) – before Carlos Queiroz, the former Real Madrid manager, was handed the mantle a month before the start of the World Cup. The revolving door of coaches, as Al-Smith says, has done little for team-building and competitiveness. “Teams need rhythm to grow,” he says. “Where there has to be a change in coaches, the philosophies need to match, in order for there to be continuity. …