Essien Arrives Amidst African Carnival

Ghana 0-0 Senegal, Griffin Park, Brentford, London, Wednesday, August 17th 2005

Sean O'Conor

A ruby red sun setting amidst a hazy pink sky, African drums pounding the air and a sea of black faces sweating in short sleeves, gathered amidst a ramshackle stand of corrugated iron to watch Ghana take on Senegal at football.

It could have been Burundi but in fact it was Brentford on a midweek night when a little piece of West Africa memorably came for two hours to West London.

These two African soccer giants were following in the footsteps of other countries such as Eire, Jamaica and Australia who have recently taken advantage of England's cosmopolitan capital's location in terms of assembling overseas-based players and drawing on London's substantial expat communities for support.

“This was just on my doorstep. How could I not go?” a middle-aged man named Samuel from Ghana told me.
“It is great to see Senegal play football in London. For the players it is easier for them to come here than go back to Dakar,” a Senegal fan called Lamine added.

Whilst most English eyes were focused on Ghana's Michael Essien, finally ensnared by Chelsea to the tune of 26 million pounds after a summer-long transfer battle with Lyon, the two nations were focused on tuning up before the next crucial round of World Cup qualifiers take place on the 3rd of September.

Senegal had become the new African boys on the block after a memorable first World Cup finals outing in 2002 when they beat the holders France and knocked out Sweden but find themselves in real danger of missing out on 2006. They sit third in their qualifying group a point behind Zambia and two behind surprise group leaders Togo with only two games to play and one team to qualify.

Ghana sit level on top of their group with South Africa but have seized the initiative by doing the double over Bafana Bafana with a priceless 2-0 win in Johannesburg in June, the winner scored by Michael Essien.

Essien had been expected to play tonight but was not even named as a substitute in the end. However, when he walked over to the bench during the second half the Ghana fans, who made up 90% of the crowd in attendance, rose cheering to acclaim him and also identify him for the benefit of the hoard of cameramen who had been looking for him in vain up to that point.

That a bunch of photographers then knelt with their backs to the match, preferring to snap Essien's every facial expression than watch the game throughout the final half hour is a sad comment on the insularity of the British football media but nothing new.

What they missed was a unique opportunity to see two top African nations play each other in England in an entertaining and lively game which unjustly ended goalless.

It was indeed a great advert for the African game as a whole, which has come on leaps and bounds since the late Brian Clough lazily described their football nations as ‘spear-throwers in the desert' or the defender from Zaire in the 1974 World Cup famously ran up to an opposition free-kick when the whistle went and booted the ball upfield to everyone's consternation.

The year 2000 may have passed without an African team winning the World Cup as Pele famously predicted but Cameroon's break-out performance in reaching the 1990 World Cup quarter-finals, defeating Argentina and Colombia along the way and running England mightily close, set the benchmark and ensured African nations would no longer be considered pushovers.

They have also benefited mightily in terms of money and FIFA influence from the sustained largesse of former President Joao Havelange and his baby boy and current incumbent Sepp Blatter, who were swift to realize the wisdom of courting the votes of the continent's 52 football associations.

That a continent that still is considered somewhat inferior in footballing terms can send more representatives to the World Cup Finals than the hotbed of South America is no mean political victory and Africa itself will finally host the tournament itself in 2010, after Blatter controversially pulled all the strings he could to get South Africa the tournament in 2006, only to have his Asian confederation votes u-turn at the last minute.

The game tonight opened brightly with both sides full of ambition and energy. Senegal, fielding Wigan striker Henri Camara and Bolton's ‘spitting cobra' El-Hadji Diouf, looked the slicker of the two, cutting quickly from defence to attack and making Ghana, coached by the Serb Ratomir Dujkovic, chase the ball.

But the Black Stars of Ghana roared back into life in the twenty-fifth minute when Isaac Boakye, a striker for Germany's Arminia Bielefeld, broke clear of Senegal's backline and fired his shot wide, drawing a roar from the crowd. Three minutes later Vitesse Arnhem's Matthew Amoah managed to miss with a header when it seemed easier to score.

Ghana then went on to have by far the lion's share of the chances for the remainder of the game with the same two players plus Udinese's Sule Muntari and former Juventus and now Fenerbahce star Steven Appiah squandering rich pickings in front of goal.

Appiah was guilty for missing Ghana's best chance of all, a penalty on the stroke of half time that he whacked against the bar for it to rebound to Amoah whose effort was saved.

The half-time whistle went and despite the lack of goals the crowd was happy and in a good sign for Britain's race relations, largely treated England's 4-1 losing scoreline with hurt disbelief and not amusement.

They were rightly pleased at the entertainment on offer as it was a noticeable improvement from the turgid football on show from Senegal and others in the 2002 African Nations Cup, when it seemed too many homegrown stars had jettisoned their native flair in favour of the negative and defensive styles of football they were practicing at their European club sides.

Come the next edition in 2004, the hype surrounding Nigeria, Cameroon et al was punctured as the continent's power balance shifted north of the Sahara when Morocco and hosts Tunisia reached the final.

Ghana took off in the second half where they had left off in the first, using telling final balls to stab into the Senegal defence, that was starting to look like a Swiss cheese, though not a melted one.

Both teams had headed chances saved in the 72nd minute before Diouf received a caution six minutes later for a two-footed tackle that reminded us of the bad old days of African football and the notorious Western commentators' use of the ‘n' word to describe it – naïve.

In the 81st these wise old football hacks whose impression of the dark continent's soccer has not changed through ignorance would have felt vindicated when the referee flashed a red card to Bolton and Senegal's Abdoulaye Faye for stamping on Ghana's Isaah Ahmed.

“You watch, in this last minute we will be like Brazil!” the be-suited Ghanaian gentleman in front of me grinned.
Sadly no Ronaldinhoesque moment arrived but Ghana certainly deserved to have won and should feel proud. They have a strong team unit and a number of talented players including the hitherto unsung Laryea Kingston, a midfield engine up there with the best but who plays in Russia for the relatively unknown Terek Grozny.

The players were cheered off whilst Michael Essien was given another round of superstar treatment by the flashing bulbs of the press cameras as he exited. I for one still need to be convinced his pursuit and exorbitant transfer fee were worth it for a player who has truly yet to excel either in the defensive role Claude Makelele plays for Chelsea or as an attacking steamtrain in the mould of Steven Gerrard. I have even read him described as "an overpriced Eric Djemba-Djemba" so I hope Chelsea have done their homework.

Images © Sean O'Conor

Sean O'Conor

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