Photo via ghanaweb.biz

Black Stars won the Ghana 2008 because of prayers?

Last Sunday’s match between the Black Stars of Ghana, the host nation and arc-rivalries, the Super Eagles of Nigeria, at the qualifying quarter-finals in the on-going 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations, had been described as the tensest because of a longstanding rivalry between the two nations, reports Daniel Abugah, special to ASSIST News Service. This literally led some Christians and church goers in the country into intensive intercession for the team.

The fateful evening also saw one of the beauties of unity in diversity when the almost all (about 20 million) people of Ghana disregarded their ethnic, language, religious/denominational and regional differences and went out in their numbers on the streets bursting out and chanting victory over the Black Stars’ qualifying for the semi-finals of the tournament.

Since Monday, before the fateful Sunday, there had been all-day-long prayers through radio phone-in programs by individual Christians across the country in solidarity behind the Black Stars. On the morning of the event it was not only the roads and drinking spots that were branded with the national paraphernalia, but the churches also became colorful as the average church member was seen wearing either a flying tie under his coat, head gear, a T-shirt, or a belt with the colors Red-Gold-Green with black.

Christians across all denominations then spent a moment of single-hearted prayer for victory for the Black Stars. At the Royal House Chapel International, a model charismatic church with branches overseas, thousands of worshippers thronged the auditorium to pray for divine intervention in the match.

The General Overseer of the church, Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah, said the greatest gift God could give to the nation in the New Year was a victory in Sunday’s match.

While the average Christian saw it significant to pray for the Black Stars’ victory last Sunday, some were however of the view that God is impartial and would therefore not listen to the prayers of one country and leave the other, hence there was need to pray but to only give moral support to the players and urge them to do their best.

Meanwhile there have been media reports that some five persons died out of excessive jubilation after the match, with some others sustaining various degrees of injuries from motor accidents. The Ghana News Agency (GNA) reported that a 16-year-old female student of Mawuli High School in the Ho Metropolitan area, collapsed when she fell during jubilations while a man in his late twenties also collapsed from slaps from a friend during the jubilations in town, among others.

The Black Stars won victory over their bitterest rivals, the Super Eagles, with a 2-1 goal margin. They take on the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, who defeated Tunisia 3-2 at the Tamale Stadium on Monday night to secure a place in the last four in the semi-final stage of the competition at the Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra on Thursday, February 7, while Cote d'Ivoire seeks revenge against defending champions Egypt in the other semi-final match at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi also on Thursday. Egypt defeated the Ivorians in the finals of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations when they hosted the tournament.

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[02/06/2008]

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