Ghana win clear indication Kenyan football is on the rise Baffor

Geoffrey Mwamburi in Accra, Ghana

Former Ghana international Baffor Gyan says the quality of the Kenyan game has gone a notch higher and backed the Harambee Stars to reach the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Finals in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Baffor, elder brother of Ghana’s captain and record goal-scorer Asamoah, said there was little doubt Harambee Stars and the Black Stars would advance from Group F of the AFCON Qualifiers.

The 38-year-old was in the stands as the Ghanaian women’s national team suffered its first setback at the AWCON, going down 2-1 to Mali at the Accra Sports Stadium in the country’s capital.

“I can say Kenya has really grown; they are not where they used to be in the last four years when I was still playing active football. They beat Ghana 1-0 in the qualifier match in Nairobi some few weeks ago and that’s a clear indication that things have changed.

“The Kenyan game has come a long way since the days of Musa Otieno and even McDonald Mariga. Now the country has the likes of Victor Wanyama, who is very famous here in Ghana as well as Michael Olunga. I believe they are going places,” Baffor told Citizen Digital.

Harambee Stars have all but secured their ticket to the 2019 AFCON Finals, leading Group F with seven points with Ghana (6), Ethiopia (4) and Sierra Leone – who have been banned by FIFA – following in that order.

Commenting on the AWCON, Baffor pointed out officiating as the area that needs to be relooked at aafter claiming center Reffarie ALetticia Antonella had favoured Mali in their victory over Ghana in a match that had two penalties.

“They need to up their game to make the tournament beautiful,” Baffor said.

The former Dynamo Moscow striker also expressed his disappointment in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and Confederation of African Football (CAF) following the decision to reinstate Equatorial Guinea to the AWCON as well as the subsequent failed appeal to have the ruling overturned.

“I believe that was a very harsh ruling from CAF and CAS. Harambee Starlets were already training and were ready for the tournament. You can see Equatorial Guinea are struggling because they were not meant to be here.”

Kenya were left out of AWCON 2018 after CAF overturned a decision by its Disciplinary Council to disqualify Equatorial Guinea after they had fielded an ineligible player during their qualifying match.

Equatorial Guinea are currently on a FIFA suspension over the same matter and will not be eligible to participate at the 2019 Women’s World Cup even if they achieve the qualifying top three finish at AWCON.