‘’The time we have all been waiting for is here. Months of thinking about the AFCON, weeks of pre­paring and days of travel­ling, have finally brought us to the time all of us have been waiting for. It is that time that we have to forget about all the things that have happened in the past, come together with that singular ambition of making history for yourselves and for Ghana.

‘’It is that time that all of us have to stand up and be counted. It is our time to bring the country together. It is our time to use football to revive the spirit of our youth. It is our time to use football to bring hope and happiness to our country.’’

The above quote from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kurt Okraku perfectly captures the at­mosphere created by the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament scheduled for Cote d’Ivoire and set to kick off today.

At exactly 8pm, the Black Stars will commence their campaign for a fifth AFCON trophy to break a 42-year trophy drought with a group opener against Cape Verde.

This campaign is coming at a time when Black Stars fans appear crest-fallen with pride and ego dropping to its lowest ebb. There are a few out there, however, with some level of confidence and enthusiasm in the team that has regularly produced poor results in recent times in qualifiers.

That is the reason why the lucky 27 players select­ed by Coach Chris Hughton needed no reminders like what the FA President put out to know the responsibili­ties on their shoulders.

The 27-member team in­cluded Richard Ofori, Joseph Wollacott, Lawrence Ati-Zi­gi, Alidu Seidu, Denis Odoi, Kingsley Schindler, Gideon Mensah, Abdul Fatawu Hamid, Nicholas Opoku and Salisu Mohammed.

The others are Osman Bukari, Joseph Painstil, Er­nest Nuamah, Jordan Ayew, Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Wil­liams, Jonathan Sowah and Daniel Amartey.

The rest include Alexan­der Djiku, Baba Iddrisu, El­isha Owusu, Abdul Samed Salis, Richmond Lamptey, Majeed Ashimeru, Mo­hammed Kudus, Andre Ayew, Ransford Yeboah Koningsdoffer with Chris Hughton as the Head Coach.

These players know better than all and have a better understanding of what it means to be handed places in national teams. It comes with pride and enhances the player’s status.

However, it also comes with a huge responsibility to put everything aside in defence of the country’s flag at the biggest continental football platform.

The FA President there­fore minced no words when he reminded the team of the times in which they found themselves. Indeed, this is the time to deliver what a particular generation of Ghanaian football fans have not experienced in their life­time.

At the same dinner to bid fare­well to the team, the President of the land, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also urged them to strive to win the ultimate because the entire nation was behind them.

On the surface, it appears majority of Ghanaians have given up on the team but that situation could change based on what they show at the showpiece.

This is surely not bigger than the team full of young­sters that have struggled to keep Ghana at the top as one of the powerhouses of African football.

Paired in a group with Cape Verde, Egypt and Mo­zambique, Ghana is surely one of the countries expect­ed to progress from Group B of the competition.

But they are likely to meet stiffer opposition after the group stage when other forces like Senegal, Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and others all lurk around the trophy.

Asking the Black Stars to bring home the trophy appears a mere formality to demonstrate one’s faith in the team but realistically, it seem a huge impossibility but that underdog status is what they would be expected to thrive on to upset the apple-cart. Go for the trophy, Stars!

 By Andrew Nortey