The following is the 18-man Ghanaian squad in the men’s football tournament of the 2004 Olympic Games which was coached by Coach Mariano Barreto.
George Owu Mohammed Alhassan Nasir Lamine John Paintsil Emmanuel Addoquaye Pappoe Patrick Villars Daniel Coleman John Mensah Emmanuel Osei Obuor Yusif Chibsah Abubakari Yahuza William Tiero Stephen Appiah Baffuor Gyan Asamoah Gyan Charles Taylor Kwadwo Poku Razak Pimpong.
The Ghana Black Meteors were pitted in Group B alongside Italy, Japan and Paraguay.
These were the results at the group stage:
Ghana 2:2 Italy
Ghana 2:1 Paraguay
Ghana 0: 1 Japan
Ghana unfortunately failed to qualify from the group stage.
The table in Group B was
Paraguay 3 6 5 6pts
Italy 3 5 5 4pts
Ghana 3 4 4 4pts
Japan 3 6 7 3pts
That was the last time Ghana tasted the Olympic Games in football.
Meanwhile, Ghana was the first African country to win a medal at the Olympic Games in football, winning bronze in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
Ghana topped Group D with these results:
Ghana 3:1 Australia
Ghana 0:0 Denmark
Ghana 1:1 Mexico.
At the quarterfinal stage Ghana beat Paraguay by 4:2 after extra time with Kwame Ayew fetching a hat-trick.
However Ghana lost the semifinal game 0:1 to hosts Spain but when ahead to beat Australia in the third-place game by 1:0 to win bronze, the first time ever by an African side at the Olympic Games.
Later, Nigeria won gold at Atlanta 96 and Cameroon also won gold at Sydney 2000.
The 20-man squad that made that history for Ghana in 1992 are as follows;
Anthony Osei Kwadwo MensahSimon AddoIbrahim DosseyFrank AmankwaaIsaac AsareSammy AdjeiBernard Aryee Joachim Yaw Acheampong Kwame AyewOlli Rahman Kalilu Dramani Samuel Osei KufourSamuel Ablade Kumah Alex NyarkoMohammed GargoMaxwell Konadu Yaw PrekoMamood Amadu Shamo Quaye Nii Odartey Lamptey.
However, after missing out on three consecutive occasions, Ghana has been presented with yet another great opportunity to qualify for next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
And it won’t be easy this time again but the boys have what it takes to write their names in letters of gold again, albeit being in a group with some of the soccer powerhouses in African football, Egypt (hosts), Mali and Cameroon.
Later this evening at exactly 8pm Ghana time, Coach Ibrahim Tanko and his charges will relive history by taking a giant step at qualifying Ghana to the Olympic Games.
The skipper for the side, Yaw Yeboah knows the enormous task ahead and has psyched up his colleagues just as he did in the qualifying game against Algeria away.
As 8 teams parade at the Egypt 2019 CAF Under-23 tournament in Cairo, beginning this evening with two matches slated for today, all Ghanaians should rally behind the Black Meteors and remember them in prayers.
Match 1: Egypt vs Mali 5pm
Match 2: Ghana vs Cameroon 8pm
Oseeeeyyy Ghana!
Yes we can!
#Bringbacktheloveseries
Writer: Kofi Asare Brako ‘Abatay’- Spokesperson and Personal Assistant to the Minister of Youth and Sports
