Ghana's last ACN tournament victory was all the way back in 1982 (the year of my birth!). Since then our national team has flattered to deceive on a number of occasions. In the 33 years following our last trophy, Ghana has only been to the final twice; today's showpiece will be our third.
Incidentally the first of those final appearances came against the Ivory Coast back in Senegal 1992. It was a tightly contested affair ending in a dramatic penalty shootout in favour of our neighbours. The victory marked their first, and to this date, their only African Cup triumph.
Both sides have gone on to reach at least one more appearance in the final before today. Ghana did so in 2010 only to lose narrowly to Egypt, the undisputed kings of African football at the time. Cote D'Ivoire have made it to the brink of glory only to be caught out on penalty shootouts each time. Egypt bested them in 2006, the first of three consecutive titles for the pharaohs. In 2012 they suffered the same fate to Zambia, and by doing so landed the "chipolopolo" their first championship.
In recent years bad luck and bad form have played equal part in both of this year's finalists' underachievements. The elephants have boasted a golden generation of footballers with teams that were packed with household names such as Didier Drogba, Kolo & Yaya Toure to name a few but somehow could not get over the line. Ghana similarly had the talent to do better with the likes of Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari all being the cornerstone of black stars past that haven't been able to get the proverbial ACN monkey off our backs.
Today represents a shot at redemption and long overdue glory for both camps. The pressure to succeed will rest on the shoulders of both teams but I'd argue that on paper the Ivory Coast have the better players and therefore should go into the match as favorites. However Ghana's collective spirit and team first attitude could mean that our sum is worth more than our individual parts.
The victor today will be able to consign years of frustration to the history books. For the defeated finalist, the search for that elusive crown will go on. May the best team win (hopefully that means Ghana!)
