The God of Daniel spoke for Black Stars against Three Lions

The Black Stars of Ghana facing the Three Lions of England at the 2026 FIFA World Cup was similar to the interesting story reported in the good old book, The Bible, christened ‘Daniel in the Lions’ Den.’

Captured in the book of Daniel Chapter six, it told a story of how an obedient, righteous and God-fearing servant of the Almighty –Daniel, was accused of breaking a rule set by King Darius, forbidding the people to offer any prayer to any god for 30 days.

Within that period, every praise, every prayer and every worship must be to him.

But the pious Daniel ignored this decree, and on daily basis offered prayers to God Almighty, resulting in his incarceration – thrown into a den of hungry lions to be devoured.

But God intervened; come the following morning -to the shock of Darius and his people, they saw Daniel standing in the midst of the dangerous animals.

It was a miracle.

The Black Stars of Ghana broke no decree, however, but by virtue of being placed in the same group with England, they had to go through the Daniel experience.

Coming from opening group victories against Croatia and Panama, England and Ghana had their eyes fixed on sealing early qualification from the group with victory in a historic clash.

But a win for England appeared more realistic than one for Ghana. On paper, the Three Lions were too dangerous for the Black Stars – the Daniel in this narrative, a team that has been tottering for some time now.

They have been winless in their friendlies in preparation for the Mundial and were actually ruled out by many.

It got a lot of fans scared because of the pedigree of the two teams. At the World Cup, England is ranked as the third among the favourites, a position that the Black Stars come nowhere near.

In a group also comprising Croatia and Panama, the Three Lions of England, was tipped by the bookmakers to sweep aside the others to garner all nine points.

Coach Thomas Tuchel sounded bullish at his press conferences before the game, choosing not to see Ghana as an obstacle to realizing that dream.

Declan Rice corroborated the position of his coach, also indicating a feeling that every corner awarded England could result in a goal; in essence, predicting a cricket score against Ghana.

Against such hungry and confident Lions, there was no way of escape for the Black Stars but the God of Daniel prevailed.

Ahead of Tuesday’s game, Coach Carlos Queiroz warned the English to rather be concerned because they’ll be playing over 33 million lions, alluding to the huge support of the entire Ghanaian populace.

Football, the sages say, is played on a field not in books. The Black Stars proved this when they showed discipline and character to ward off the threat England wield to hold them to a goalless encounter.

It was not surprising that the outcome was received with a mixed reaction as Ghanaians celebrated while the English considered it a defeat.

In actual sense, it was a win for the Ghanaians whose tactics proved superior against Tuchel’s passing and all-attacking strategy.

That was made possible by the commitment and dedication shown by the players, including those that joined from the bench. For those that were left on the bench, the support was evident on their faces.

Statistically, Ghana conceded only three chances despite the mammoth possession recorded in favour of England. With the three chances, Benjamin Asare pulled magnificent saves to set a record as the first Ghanaian goalie to record two clean sheets in succession.

Marvin Senaya, Jonas Adjei Adjetey, Jerome Opoku and Gideon Mensah provided a solid shield at the back to thwart the efforts of Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane who many thought could score a lot of goals.

In midfield, Antoine Semenyo, Kwesi Sibo, Caleb Yirenkyi and Inaki Williams also put up an outstanding display in midfield.

But in-between the defence and the midfield was Thomas Partey who marshalled the midfield with distinction. He played the dual role of joining the back four when threatened and cover up for any of the midfielders that joined the attack on the few occasions Ghana attacked.

For Jordan Ayew, the controversy over whether to start or not would continue but against the Three Lions, he deserves some commendations for the hard work he put in.

Obviously, he was left as the lone man upfront to hold the ball and draw fouls, a role that he performed creditably.

Those that came on were equally good. It was unfortunate that the English dominated and wanted a goal at all cost to ease the final day stress. So instead of attacking, they were forced into a defensive posture.

But the real credit goes to the master tacticians who put the script together – Carlos Queiroz and his able lieutenants.

He brought his experience to bear on the game by first of all identifying and admitting the weakness of his team and deployed a strategy to neutralise what would have handed a huge advantage to the English.

Queiroz has been around for a very short time but his impact on the team has been extremely remarkable. At this stage, what he needs is the support of all and sundry to identify other talented players that are not of this fold.

It would have been a bad history for Ghana to lose our first competitive clash with England at the senior level with a defeat. The draw was a massive result that pushes Ghana closer to qualification, and one that would ease the final day stress.

With Panama and England out of the picture now, the focus shifts to Croatia who beat Panama 1-0 and would be out for a point to cushion them.

It comes with a totally different challenge; one that Queiroz would have to revert to the drawing board to map out an entirely new strategy to at least secure a point to qualify among the top two in the group.

By Andrew Nortey

Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q