Defeat at the Baba Yara has been knocking on the doors of Ghana for nearly two years. The Twenty-four (24) years, five months unbeaten record was one day going to be broken, definitely.
Remember the famous Sammy Kuffuor’s weep and punching of the Barcelona pitch! The Camp Nou in 1999 witnessed a ‘smarsh and grab’ victory for Manchester United against Bayern Munich forcing Kuffuor to cry. The Red Devils came from behind to win 2-1 against the superior Bayern Munich in the 3 minutes of injury time.
Nine months later, the legendary Kuffuor was once again captured by the paparazzi weeping uncontrollably. It was 6th February 2000 in the quarter-finals of AFCON 2000. Nomvethe scored in the 42nd minute of first half to help Bafana Bafana of South Africa beat Black Stars of Ghana.
It’s 8,978 days since Ghana lost at Kumasi. Angola’s midfielder Milson will go down in history as the man who broke Nomvethe’s record 24 years ago. The 24-year-old Red Star forward had the easiest of jobs as he had just Ati Zigi and the net to make history.
Central African Republic’s 4-3 defeat in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June 2024 was the last time Ghana played a home game in Kumasi. CAR troubled Ghana, CAR sent a huge message that the time was up for the Black Stars to lose at home, CAR raised the hopes of Angola by matching Black Stars boot for boot.
Angola’s first ever visit to Oseikrom was in March 2023 in the AFCON 2023 qualifiers with Ghana winning 1-0 via Semenyo’s 96th minute strike. Ghana struggled but got a victory with Angola’s skipper Fredy running the show alongside Show in midfield.
Head coach of Angola, Pedro Goncalves’ words during the pre-match conference suggested Angola were ready to break Ghana’s almost 25 year unbeaten run in Kumasi.
Many top African teams have visited Baba Yara since February 2000 and have all struggled to finish Ghana.
Angola’s bold approach on Thursday afternoon under the Baba Yara flood light was spot on. Goncalves’ three men at the back were incredible as they kept English Premier League stars Ayew, Kudus, Semenyo and Fatawu quiet.
36 year old Fredy, skipper for Angola had another decent day in Kumasi. He run the show with his partner show in midfield.
Angola’s attack had Mabulu, Dala and Nteka. They posed danger but it wasn’t much dangerous until Cagliari’s Luvumbo replaced Nteka.
Zito Luvumbo is the most dangerous Angolan footballer now as he has proven it on so many occasions for Cagliari. The 22-year-old twisted and turned Alidu Seidu. He laid a sweet low cross with Ghana’s defender Abdul Mumin failing to clear it. Milson’s job was just to shoot and he expertly shot the ball to help Angola beat Ghana and make a huge record.
Ghana will travel to Morocco to face Niger in matchday 2 as Angola will welcome the sensational Sudan in Luanda.
