Media reacts to the performance of the Black Stars in the two Congo games

Ghana were able to send Congo to the cleaners in Brazzaville by a huge margin of 5-1. The initial result was enough to give Egypt the push and get the Pharoahs of Egypt one win away from making the 2018 World Cup. That is a feat the North African nation has not achieved since the 1990 edition in Italy. We look at the opinions with a few journalists on the two games.

Betty Yawson (Starr FM)

I think our return leg against Congo at the Kintele stadium yesterday is a clear indication that it’s about time Coach Kwesi Appiah stop playing "names" but rather performance. I say that the absence of the trio (asamoah Gyan, Dede Ayew and Jordan) was a blessing in disguise because I know for sure that the Coach would not have had the balls to bench those players knowing very well that their not fully fit. This gave opportunity to the likes of Boakye Yiadom, Partey, Agyapong and the likes to also showcase what they got. We failed to capitalize on Egypt lost to Uganda to score Congo and make our chances brighter. For now I believe strongly that our 2018 world Cup journey has ended.

I know anything can happen in football, but we should be realistic even if, we beat Egypt in Ghana, Egypt will not lose to Congo or even the probability of we beating Uganda in Kampala is very little. Nations are using points to qualify and we are using calculations and probabilities. We should stop burning false hope and the Coach should rather put up a formidable team that can go to the 2019 Afcon and win it. Because even know if we qualify, we will not make any positive impact at the world cup looking at the current state of the team.

Ghanaians are very disappointed in the Black Stars and the only way they can appease them is winning a trophy and that if we do our homework well we can do that.

I don't believe in the call for the likes of the Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew to retire, but if it is needed for them to start from bench they should. We shouldn't paint the picture that some players have a permanent position in the team.

So I will advise the coach to start building the team with young players who are willing to deliver for the nation, the experienced ones can come on board when the going gets tough. The world won’t come to an end if Ghana does make the 2018 world Cup after all even legends like Abedi Pele and Augustine Arhinful who came to play all the best football in the world didn't get the chance to rep the nation at a world Cup.

Nigeria missed out in 2010. So we missing out is not news but it’s a lesson to the coach to master courage and change the face of the team for 2019. I don't trust that is he tactically weak, I think he rather needs courage.

Michael Nsiah Otchere (Starr Fm)

I think lessons were learnt from both games by the technical men especially coach Kwesi Appiah.in the return leg he deployed a good tactics and the result is there for all to see. We should now channel our efforts to the 2019 Afcon and by so doing build a formidable team with these young players who are hungry for success.

If we are able to build a better team after our failed shot at the 2018 world cup then we put ourselves in good stead of qualifying with ease to the 2022 world cup in Qatar.

Stak Sottie (Radio Univers)

In Kumasi we did not do well in Kumasi and generally the playing body did not come to the party. We played Attamah Laweh out of position and the selection of Andre Ayew cost us dearly. We understood that James Kwesi Appiah on the day wanted to attack but he should have as well checked his back.

The selection for the second game was okay. It does not mean Kwasi Appiah is tactically upright. It still seems Kwesi Appiah has not learnt anything over the time he spent in Sudan after his first time with the team. I still don’t see his fingerprint in the team. A grade one coach can always play the normal 4-4-2 and win games. After he was bashed by most Ghanaian he changed to 4-2-3-1. That got the wingers to run down the flanks and get the balls in for them to finish.

I think Kwesi Appiah should maintain this team moving forward but Harrison Afful should be replaced because he is aging and cannot maintain fitness. He played through a foot injury in the game and we will need others to step up when they are called. I think the team without Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew the boys came to the party. The win was good for the morale of the team but it is just too late.

Emmanuel Ayamga (Pulse)

I think the world cup dream is something that is over. Egypt have a home game against Congo which I think they will win. For the fact that they will win means Ghana is definitely out of the 2018 World Cup and that we should concentrate on the 2019 African Cup of Nations. I am sure Kwesi Appiah has learnt from his mistakes.

I have always said that good coaches learn from mistakes and move on. You have a group of underperforming stars. You can decide to call them but if the youth in the setup are hungrier to play, you use them. I do not understand why he played Andre Ayew who is not in form. Jordan Ayew had just scored over the weekend before had not scored in a while since he joined Swansea in January.

Muftawu Abdulai Nabila (Kwese TV)

The worst game I have seen the Black Stars play when Ghana met Burkina Faso in the 2013 AFCON Semi Final. Friday’s game was a repeat of that performance on that very evening in Nelspruit, South Africa. With the game in Congo we saw the Black Stars team Coach Kwesi Appiah was brought to build.

Five changes, five goals, Impressive performance. The man who people have turned all of a sudden into a tactically bankrupt coach because he failed to beat Congo. Ghanaians will always feel failing to beat Congo is a crime against nature. The truth is now there are no Minos in football and even there are points where the most revered coaches in the world fail to find antidote to their opponents.

The game against Congo was one of those days. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have also had difficult days. Can we qualify? I don’t think so. We shot ourselves in the foot. This means Congo will have to beat Egypt at Alexandria. From where I sit it is difficult for Ghana to make it. Football is one science Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton will have no command over. Anything can happen in football. We can be cautiously optimistic but we all know we cannot make it to Russia.

Evans Ofotsu (Radio XYZ)

Impression on two games:

In Kumasi, the stars were complacent and attitude towards the game was poor. This is a fact summed up by captain, Asamoah Gyan in a post-match interview. But, there was the desire to right the wrongs in Brazzaville. Tactically, the change of formation from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 was spot on. It helped in bringing the best out of Christian Attu, Thomas Agyepong, Richmond Boakye Yiadom and Thomas Partey. However we need to work on our lateral defenders.

I also think Afriyie Acquah was "busquets-esque" in his role as a defensive midfielder.

Overall, the Brazzaville performance gave me a glimpse of hope if we build a new black stars for the future.

It will take sorcery for Egypt not to beat Congo on home soil. For me, the 2018 world cup dream ended after the 1-1 draw against Congo in Kumasi.

So the obvious target should now be the AFCON 2019.

As Kwesi Appiah has always reiterated, he is building a team for the future and I believe that team starts now.

Samuel Ziga (Freelance Journalist)

Well, we had our destiny in our hands ahead of the first game in Kumasi after Egypt lost to Uganda in Kampala but I think we have placed massive doubt on our qualification .I don't want to go into the tactical issues that led to our breakdown in the Kumasi game. As to whether certain players should keep their places in the team, I have my reservations about that.

The second game in Brazzaville brought to the fore, what you can get from a youthful and an in form set up instead of the usual big names on the team sheet. We need certain players around the team as team players but not as starters.

That is the hard truth we should deal with now. Some players must be made to work hard for their positions. Can we qualify? For me I think it will be difficult for Egypt to surrender their lead. We can only prepare well to put up a strong team ahead of AFCON 2019 and perhaps Qatar 2022.