Ghana football has a good chance of having all two of our reps in the 2023/24 CAF inter-club competitions making it to the league stage of their respective contests. 

Medeama are in the Champions League. Dreams FC are in CAF’s second most prestigious club competition, the Confederation Cup. Dreams beat Sierra Leone’s Kallon Stars 2-1 in Accra on Saturday while in Cape Coast on Sunday, Medeama whipped Guinea’s Horoya 3-1. 

Difficult second-leg ties await them. They have travelled by dint of arduous work to this point. They need to finish hard to bring Champions League and Confederation Cup football to Ghana. I do not recall the last time two Ghanaian clubs qualified to the so-called lucrative league stage of these African club competitions in the same year. 

That must be when we had more than one slot for each of the competitions. If we have one today and with little resources yet pragmatic steps to their campaigns, Medeama and Dreams are on course to book league stage berths in their respective competitions, encouragement is all we can give them. 

They must go all out for what would be dignified feats for them and our football. In Guinea and Sierra Leone, they have no easy tasks. Horoya and Kallon scored here. Medeama and Dreams must brace themselves up for stern battles. In front of their home fans, Horoya and Kallon have extra impetus to protect their pride. 

In their first-round tie with Milo FC in Conakry, Dreams fought for a decent 1-1 draw before finishing well at home. That should be an inspiration. Similarly, Medeama in Nigeria sprang a surprise (drawing 1-1 on aggregate against Remo Stars) before advancing on penalties. They can eliminate Horoya in Guinea. 

Progress for our clubs has financial implications for their dry bank accounts. They, however, must not come thus far to drop out. That would hurt the soul of our dull domestic league. Medeama, Dreams and our football will benefit significantly from league stage appearances by the two teams. 

The technical handlers of both clubs have done well so far but there awaits them an unfinished business in Guinea and Sierra Leone. They must get it done. It would be a modest accomplishment and a major step to lifting our tottering domestic league quite onto the continental stage should the two sides qualify.