Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
As the old adage goes, if it’s meant to be it will be.
This was the tale of the Guinea national team, qualifying for the 2015 African Cup of Nations despite having to play home away from home and depriving its fans of their journey to Equatorial Guinea over the Ebola outbreak.
The ultimate ‘written in the stars’ story of a group of men who believed that Ebola won’t define them, their fate nor decide their destiny.
They did it in Casablanca on Wednesday. The venue that embraced them since the qualifiers kicked off, one of the those moments that played out the human interest factor football brings to the pitch. It’s much more than the ninety minutes of twenty two men chasing a ball. It’s passion, love, pride, patriotism and history at stake above its entertainment value as well.
Guinea’s campaign were dealt a huge blow as soon as it started. Ebola outbreak hit the country in March and that forced them to seek a venue elsewhere when the final round kicked off in September.
For a country that was snubbed when it sought a home venue following WHO advisories to avoid mass gatherings, they had all the writing of being doomed to fail. No one wanted to play hosts until CAF announced Morocco will do it.
A 2-1 win against plucky Togo and a 2-0 defeat in Kampala is how mixed their start was, forget the difficulties they had to go through in the latter as a result of the Ebola outbreak that included, limiting its delegation and being booked into a substandard hotel, for them frustrations chapter shaped up from that Uganda trip.
I know mind games are always part of the game but for such a team nothing was deterring them. They went back to Casablanca to force a one-all draw with Ghana then the reverse fixture away, lost 3-1 in Tamale, all these played a scene setter to how they re-lodged their campaign again.
Resilience showed in Lome. At a stadium where they were forced to undertake Ebola tests at the match venue, the ultimate low of the qualifiers so far.
They say winning in Togo is always difficult, they did it, a 4-1 victory to provide a lifeline for themselves and restore their qualification status back on track after opting to overlook the disgraceful act by viewing it as a motivator. Then, came Uganda as their last opponent, the only option was to defeat them, a mission they executed courtesy of finding the back of the net in both halves with an unanswered reply.
It was theirs for the taking and once the referee blasted the final whistle, the tears shed and fans celebrations was a testament of what it meant to the team.
Not only did they have to win on field of play, they had to win off the pitch. They couldn’t let Ebola dictate their proceedings. They had won.
As much as some might want to argue it wasn’t a script with connotations of an amazing qualification since their players were sourced in Europe, you can’t rob the outfit of their fighting spirit.
Being labelled as outcasts is mentally disturbing, playing three home matches at a venue not your home and three away fixtures without your travelling fans who are denied visas is not a walk in the park. Mental strength disadvantage is the worst enemy when it comes to football.
Ibrahima Traore has come out in the open to reveal he begged his club to rejoin his teammates and seek qualification and his presence showed in his free kick against Uganda to open the scoring that put them in the driving seat. For some of these players it was more of breaking barriers that shackled the entire country through qualification.
However, their zeal to turn around their misfortunes and give back to their fans the qualification is what you call a comeback in every sense of the word. They went on to snatch victory in the jaws of defeat, in a span of a month they went from being bottom of the group to second, with the odds stack against them.
The 12th man plays a crucial role in football, it’s the reason why some emerge as champions and others instill fear to their opponents. Guinea most of the times went it alone and for the mere fact that they succeeded at it, calls for a round of applause.
Most of the times, footballers would tell you it is easy playing away because there is no pressure from fans but most of the times they need that one person with an ounce of belief. It is human nature, it drives you.
So, before you judge their backdrop of events and state they are not valid enough to highlight their struggles and how they overcome their obstacles, just accept the fact that Ebola lost and football won.
That typifies the amazing story of how Guinea National team defied all odds.
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