MPs laud Stars

Backpage, July 7, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
Members of Parliament (MP) unanimously showered praises on the senior national team, the Black Stars for their historic feat in the World Cup in South Africa.
They were however not comfortable with the invitation extended by President John Evans Atta Mills to only the leadership of the House to join him at a ceremony to honour the players and technical bench of the team at the Castle, Osu.
They, therefore, impressed on the leadership of the Parliament to arrange for the players to visit the House and interact with them
Responding to the demand and sentiments of the House, the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka promised to liaise with the management of the Black Stars to make arrangement for players to visit to the august House.
The MPs were contributing to a statement made on the floor of the House by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture, Mr Stephen M.E.K Ackah to congratulate the team.
In his statement, he stated that notwithstanding what happened in the last match of the Black Stars in South Africa, the team had placed Ghana on a higher pedestal, which was unprecedented in Ghana and Africa’s football history.
“Ghana was the only African representative in two consecutive world cups, which moved beyond the group stages and has equalled the records of pacesetters, Cameroon and Senegal,” he stated.
He said that the team needed special commendation because the connoisseurs, pundits and analysts of football were skeptical about the capacity of the team to make any meaningful progress in the tournament.
Mr Ackah explained that initially, the team was plagued with numerous injuries while the absence of Michael Essien was seen as a blow.
“Indeed after the 4-1 defeat by the Netherlands in one of the trial matches close to the commencement of the tournament, many felt the Black Stars were going to be the whipping boys of the competition”, he said.
“Let us continue to encourage the players to train hard and keep the faith. The time to start strategizing for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is now”.
Mr Ackah said that if the defending champions, Italy could be shown the exit by Slovakia and other football giants such as England, France, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal USA, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon had to exit before the semi-final stage of the competition, then it was an indication of how far and fast football was advancing and how difficult it was for any country to claim supremacy in the game.
Mr Ackah said “this is an achievement that can never be forgotten. As a nation we have to give our team, our gallant warriors a resounding and heroic welcome”, adding that what happened at the Kotoka International Airport was a manifestation of the appreciation of Ghanaians for the good job done by the Black Stars.