A 4-0 win was good enough to restore hope among Ghanaians that a third consecutive World Cup appearance, at a point to Zambia following the Sudan�s use of an ineligible player, was highly possible.
The three-point lead that Zambia enjoyed was reduced to a single point after it was held to a one-all draw by Lesotho last Sunday.
The Black Stars find themselves in a situation where they will have to beat The Sudan away and Zambia here to top Group D. it�s no easy assignment but it can be done.
The emphatic Stars win notwithstanding, their game wasn�t altogether vintage as the Nile Crocodiles of The Sudan in the first 20 minutes of the second half made the Stars look ordinary.
As a matter of fact, until the Stars go their third goal, we all lived in fear of the Sudanese cancelling the lead and taking us back to square one.
The last two goals changed everything, with the Stars in absolute control till the end. The team�s performance overall was heart-warming, and from the look of things, there is so much room for improvement.
The defence and midfield still need some fine-tuning to enable the team overcome the deficiencies that were our undoing at South Africa 2013.
Brazil 2014 is definitely going to be a more difficult terrain, so the Stars� technical team has to work extra hard to ensure that the team goes there in the best of shapes.
The World Cup has never been a stage for the exhibition of mediocre stuff. Countries that get there, excuse my language, by default always run the risk of being humiliated. We�ve been there twice, and on both occasions, we did ourselves and the whole of Africa proud.
However, we have to avoid the costly mistake of assuming that on the basis of our showing in 2006 and 2010, we are going to rise to the occasion one more time. That will happen only when we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
Brazil 2014 is going to be entirely different in terms of so many things, especially pride, glamour and recognition. In other words, only the fittest of the fittest will make it to the land of Samba football for a tournament, the echoes of which will resonate across generations because of what Brazil represents in the world�s most beautiful game.
Going to Brazil 2014 is a possibility, God willing, but it will take more than hard work to bring that about.
Source: The Mirror
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