After the exit of Richard Kingson – who stood tall and burly but picked up an injury and gradually faded off the scene – we had an opportunity to build a positive rivalry between Richard Ofori and Felix Annan as Black Stars goalkeepers. That failed, partly because of how Kotoko handled Felix Annan as their number-one choice.
But here now is a fresh opportunity: Hearts of Oak’s Benjamin Asare competing with Ati Zigi.
It’s good for any nation to have quality goalkeepers competing at a high level. It boosts the confidence of the defenders in front of him on match day, and even at tournaments. Players can trust whoever gets the nod to start between the posts. For any top-performing country, you need goalkeepers on the bench who are just as good as the one who starts.
A good example is the Spanish team that won the 2010 World Cup Рthey had Iker Casillas, Victor Vald̩s, and Pepe Reina as their three goalkeepers. Any one of them could have stepped between the posts when needed.
It was sad that we went to the 2022 World Cup with goalkeepers we had little belief in. But here we are, four years on, with two top keepers we can trust. We don’t have to discredit or disrespect either of them.
I hope we can get the best out of both for the AFCON qualifiers and the tournament itself. Watching Ati Zigi at this year’s World Cup, he has clearly improved massively from 2022. Benjamin Asare, on the other hand, has also put in a lot of work since the qualifiers. Asare kept a clean sheet against former world champions England and impressed against Panama and Croatia. Ati Zigi, for his part, was good against Panama and Colombia.
If we have this kind of healthy challenge within the squad, we will always get good results. We went to two World Cups with Derrick Boateng on the bench – that’s how strong our midfield was back then. There was a point where Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah were both on the bench to accommodate Anthony Annan and André Ayew. Our midfield was once so deep that we couldn’t even bench Kwadwo Asamoah, so we pushed him to left-back instead. At one stage, Michael Essien, Anthony Annan, and Agyemang Badu were all fighting for the same position. Selection became a real headache for our coaches – and that was exactly when the national team kept winning.
We can only push Ati Zigi and Benjamin Asare to keep doing their best, and encourage even younger goalkeepers to step up and give them good competition too. Let’s not tear one another down – let’s encourage all of them.
In conclusion, competition breeds excellence, and healthy rivalry between good players is a blessing, not a curse. If we can nurture this kind of environment across all positions – not just in goal – Ghana football will always have quality options to call upon. The goal should never be to tear one player down to lift another, but to push both to be the best versions of themselves for the shirt.
Source:Fiilasports/ghanasoccernet
