Things aren’t looking so good for one of my favorite national teams, the Black Stars of Ghana. The Black Stars were one of the pleasant surprises at the last World Cup in Germany. Many, including myself, were looking for them to build upon their round of 16 exit in 2006 with a solid showing at this year’s World Cup in South Africa. Unfortunately, the injury bug has hit their two star players.
For the past two years, the team’s inspirational captain Stephen Appiah has been sidelined with a major leg injury. Although he claims he will be ready to participate in the World Cup, I have my doubts. If the past two years are anything to go on, Appiah is a long way from being declared fit. As if that weren’t bad enough, Michael Essien has been injured since the beginning of the year. It was thought that he would be back playing for his club team this weekend, however it appears that he has suffered a setback, which may rule him out for the remainder of the Premier League season.
Should these two midfielders, nicknamed the Tornado and the Bison respectively, not recover in time for the World Cup, Ghana will have a hard time progressing into the later stages of the tournament. Such a scenario would be a cruel blow to the aspirations of a nation intent on being crowned champions of the first World Cup on African soil.
