By John Egbokhan, Kumasi, Ghana
Black Meteors Coach, Kwesi Apiiah was beaming with smiles weekend after his Ghanaian wards qualified for the football event of the All Africa Games holding this September in Maputo, Mozambique.

Trailing 3-1 from the first leg played a fortnight back in Benin City, the Ghanaians came into their second leg tie against Nigeria with high expectations and at the end of regulation time, they had scored two goals and sealed their place at the Games.

With their fans jubilating at the sound of the final whistle, Coach Appiah was tossed into the air by his players, who danced round him to celebrate their success against their fierce rivals in a largely one-sided affair.

This was Appiah’s moment in the sun, his time to shine, his time to smile and his time to look back at a dream that almost did not come to fruition after an initial setback in Benin City, when after scoring first, the Ghanaians conceded three goals, a result that drew intense criticisms from the fans back here.

But after 90, his side had tuned the tide and were not being celebrated as heroes , a  feeling that was not lost on Appiah, who reporters that this qualification has made up for their Olympic failure.

“Victory is a good thing. When you win, you are celebrated like royals unlike the treatment that you get when you are defeated. After our loss  in Nigeria,, our fans called us names, stopped coming for our training sessions. It was very bad. But see today, we are now the beautiful bride of Ghanaian fans.

“What for me mattered most was the fact that we needed to make up for the Olympic loss. I wanted to prove that our  failure  there did not make us a bad team. We are good and our fans can attest to that based on our performance today.

“Today, we have made up for that Olympic ouster and I am proud of my boys for taking their chances. We exploited the weakness of the Nigerians through the wings”, added Appiah