Accra, June 26 (DPA) When Ghana and Brazil play their World Cup round of 16 match in Dortmund Tuesday, Africa's lone ranger in the tournament will have the entire continent rooting for it.
First-timers Ghana went into the World Cup far from favourites among the African countries to advance, given their dismal performance at the Africa Cup of
Nations in Egypt in January and the 'Group of Death' it found itself in at the tournament.
Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) had been the toast of the continent, with their brilliant individual players led by Didier Drogba, and had been given an outside chance to squeeze through in a group that included the Netherlands, Argentina and Serbia-Montenegro.
Where Ivory Coast failed, Togo were consumed by a serious internal squabble over money, Angola showed inexperience and Tunisia wilted. It was Ghana's 'Black Stars' who shone.
Ghana recovered from a 2-0 loss to Italy to beat the Czech Republic 2-0 and USA 2-1, to emerge as the sole African country to reach the knockout round.
All the African teams, apart from Tunisia, were appearing for the first time and had their baptism of fire on the big stage, although Angola and Ivory Coast were clearly not disgraced.
But Africans had put a lot of hope in them, given the maiden
performances of Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal in previous tournaments. Now it's Ghana getting all the praise.
Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou must have carried the support of the continent to the Ghana side when he visited them at their training camp.
Benin President Yayi Boni, ending a two-day visit to Ghana, also praised the team, while Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor has been loudly cheering his boys, telling them to be afraid of no one.
'Those who you will play against are not superhuman beings. Boot for boot, you are better than some of them,' said Kufuor.
Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson speaks for millions of Africans with her decision to take Tuesday off in order to cheer the Black Stars on.
'I had the opportunity to speak to President Kufuor on Friday and thanked him for the support we have received from Ghana and also congratulate him on the impressive performance,'
she said.
'Normally, I'm not a person to take the day off from work, but on Tuesday when Ghana plays Brazil, I am going to close down the office and watch the game,' the Ghana News agency quoted Sirleaf-Johnson as telling a delegation that went to Monrovia for a ground-breaking ceremony to restore electricity to the country.
Liberians have been backing Ghana - after all, thousands of them lived in Ghana for years during the 15-year bloody civil war that rocked the country.
The Nigerians, although traditional soccer rivals, have also been cheering the Ghanaians.