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Blog
| A humble pie from the Black Stars |
| 19 Jan 2010 | 09:33 PM |
I am eating a lot of humble pie tonight. I stuck my neck out and predicted that the Black Stars will be kicked out of the African Cup of Nations today. But they proved me wrong with a one goal triumph over Burkina Faso.
With that they’ve qualified for the quarter final stage of the tournament. It was a well-deserved victory. Some of the played really gave a good account of themselves. Overall, it was an average performance but a few of the players seemed determined to get people like me to stick our feet in our mouth.
I didn’t give them a dog’s chance, especially after they lost so miserably to the Ivory Coast last Friday. Today, they needed a win and they got just that.
So I get it.
My prediction didn’t come true and I am getting a lot of taunts from so many people through phone calls, text messages and e-mails.
“Your eye die”, one of them wrote to me.
“Shame on you,” another said.
“Anything can happen in soccer,” a friend wrote on facebook as he advised me to have a little more faith in the Black Stars.
Unfortunately, I still think the team in Angola is one of the weakest Black Stars squads this nation has ever had. It won’t win any trophy. Not this year. And certainly not with the likes of Asamoah Gyan and Haminu Dramani playing like some basic school boys from Nana Kobina Nketsiah LA Primary in my hometown, Essikado.
I must say, however, that Dede Ayew has got legend written all over him. His every move mirrors the sultry skills of his dad. He is such a delight to watch. It is the likes of Dede Ayew, Adiyiah and Kwadjo Asamoah who hold the future of the Black Stars.
I see Angola as the nursery where they are being groomed for the future, when, hopefully, they’d inspire me to have some confidence in the Black Stars again. So, for now, if the win over Burkina Faso boosts their confidence, I am happy for them. For their sake I am more than delighted to eat every humble pie I deserve.
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somebody |
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Hoooo! Ato your eye die.
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Benedicta Essien |
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Thank God they made it cos i nearly broke my leg.
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helmut |
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will get u a drink so your pie can go own well..lol have faith in the boys.
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Worlanyo a |
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U ate a humble pie.....n baked one again...u wil eat that too.these boys wil take the african cup....ur face wil die...yes again.
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Bossman |
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Right on point/those 'kids' must be put on play. It was a lacklustre performance by the old guard wink wink
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Salu Gibril |
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I have little faith in them,it will be difficult to beat Angola.
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Edem |
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Good eating of humble akyeke, which pie
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Maame |
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Ato,just one humble pie? Make that 2!
I'm so glad they won! I was so scared I had to put off the TV til I heard it was over. I did not watch the first half but a birdie told me Essien was busily texting wen Dede scored the goal. I'm a lil disappointed in Essien. Its a team and as such u rejoice together! But on a lighter note I think he was texting Suley and I quote,'Bossu, the dat lil boy Dede has jus scored o,its unfortunate cos it mite make Ghanaians think its a 'Yes we can' without u. Ps. It was a beautiful goal.:-(.
Kudos to the team!
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NICK |
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Ato, I see a very good team with the likes of Gyan, Dramani, Essien and the goalkeeper out.In anycase I'm confident they will do us proud in Angola.
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moghatto,Atlanta |
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Ato i was listening to you this morning when u made your doom prediction but i knw u would be surprised.i couldnt watch the match cos i didnt subscribe to any soccer channel n p2p also didnt show it.i must say i was sad to read from the reports that my home boy Dramani dint live up to expectation today but i pray he finds his scoring boot in the next much
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Alex Peasah-Koduah |
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Thank God you don't sound surprised. Eat it all, Ato.
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Adu-Gyamfi |
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I dont understand that at times people like you try to rule your own backyard out of any comparism.I have been listen to Joy fm since Joy came to the seen.Although Joy FM does not much stations I have seen here or all the countries I visited but I used it to make myself proud which I even did during of of my presentation in Lecture hall. Atoh has been very disgeneous to leaders in Ghana as well as National team assignment. Performing one day does not mean iy can never b e good another time.I perform bad in my first degree but I am almost heading to first class with merit in my second degree here. I was suprised Evan was following uyou on monday. I enjoy listening to your life history but it seems you dont take clue from that. Bad life today can be good tommorrow. If women new Rawlings would become head of state by brother women would have rushed him. My advice to you is be nationalistic and let Ghana be as important as you wish america etc. I wish your wife will talk to you about it. stay Bless Adu-Gyamfi, MSC,University of Glamorgan, Cardiff,UK
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suki |
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ato, i completely forgot all i had to say after reading Adu- Gyamfi's post...
....seriously?!!!! MSC University of where?/!!!
You think Ato is 'disgenous'? i think ur grammar is atrocious. i'm not surprised u 'perform bad in my first degree'....
sorry i don't mean to attack u personally but just couldn't help it.
Ato, it came back to me....i'm sitting on tenterhooks, i hope the boys make it to at least the semi finals. if they're kicked out then, i think they can hold their head up (a little)
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Jomo |
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I think it is pathetic that our league is not represented in this league. And it comes down to the fact that institutions and decision making are not well cut out in Ghana.
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PADDY |
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ATO, I THINK ASAMOAH HAS BEEN GIVEN ALL THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE HIMSELF BUT HE JUST IS NOT THE RIGHT MATERIAL WE NEED UPFRONT. I THINK ADIYIAH AND OSEI BE GIVEN MORE PLAYING TIME.
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Sammie Yaw Whyte |
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HABA! YOU DIS MAN PAAAH..! WAT DID BRLACK STARS DO TO U SEF DAT U ARE ALWAYS PROPHESING ALL DIS UR CASSAVA AND KOKONTE PROPHESIES OF DOOM? OR HAVE U BN CONSULTING TB JOSHY RECENTLY? LEMME ADVISE U DAT FOOTBALL IS NOT POLITICS ALTHGH POLITICIANS ARE D ONES CONTROLLING ITS AFFAIRS. I AM WONDERING WAT TO BET WITH YOU SO DAT U CN JUST SIFOM UR MOUTH FOR A LONG HAUL..! EIII!
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Sammie Yaw Whyte |
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Football isn't predictable.. just sit down, shut up ur big mouth and watch it over 90- 95mins....! dont forget Angola Vs Mali 4-4... heheheehe!
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Casper |
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Ato, you don't get it do you???? you have ate so many humble pies i think you must really start baking them. Your predictions about the Information minister is one classical example. You proclaimed her doom yet she is still soldering on for God and country.
I think your predictions give a foretaste of what is to come. When you predict bad news, i always expect good news. Don't stop atikese, keep predicting!
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Odopower,DC |
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Ato, i think u didn't gave them a dog chance because of their previous performance. I think they learnt their lesson from game. Eat ur humble pie my brother pls have faith...
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yaw |
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Ato, i agree with you, this black star team is not going anywhere in this tournament.They will be exiting at the next stage, however i don't think Dede Ayew is a delight to watch and doubt if he can be compared to his dad.I think he rather plays like those school kids from your hometown,it seem to me we are placing him where he doesn't belong.But for sure this is going nowhere.
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Kingus |
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Just be a little optimistic Man
pessimism eats the bone like Cancer
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Essien to go home |
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Ato, will it be out of place to ask Essien to go home or go back to England and leave the back stars along? Who knows he will get better treatment in England. For me they should forget about this so called old stars and just take only the "small boys" to S. Africa. Even if we dont get any far with them they will still do us a good joy
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Wise King |
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Ato, the current players may not be so good but with the right positioning, they can win matches.The Coach is just afraid.why does he continue to use Mathew Amoah, Asamoah Djan?As a nation we need to learn that it is not always the big names that achieve.Unknown names do it better!
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Wascarat |
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Ato I agree with you in a different way and bluntly put:
It is such a nightmare watching this bunch play. The team just sucks!!!
The team does not command any presence and even with more men on the pitch they still can't dominate a game or create any meaningful chances.
I personally think the coach is not up to the task. His job is to build a team, which he hasn't done so far. The discrepancies between our first team (key players) and the bench is simply too huge. In the absence of our key players we seem so lost and broken. That, in my opinion, is so wrong because we do not lack the players.
For eg, what makes CIV so strong is that their bench is just as strong as the starting team. CIV won't lose any substance if Drogba, Kalou, Zokora or Kolo Toure are not playing.
It is time to give Sellas this job, pay him the same amount of money they pay Milo and we'll all see wonders!
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Rose,Winneba |
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Don't be surprise when the boys bring the cup home
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somebody |
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@1. somebody,
good to know that someone like you also exists to carry on the name!!!
but you must make sure you talk sense and not go about hooting people simply bcos they expressed their sincere opinions!!!!!!!
use your head!
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Ken |
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Ato what you did was the safest thing to do. If you had gone on saying they would win and they had not you could have suffered a heart attack and not eating your fufu or jollof last night. If you do not hype them and they win it is a bonus. Till they give us hope for us to feel they can win l will stay on the safe side of the pitch and not hype their winning. l agree with you that the present squad is one of the weakest squad. It may be good as it provides us the opportunity to expose our team B so if team A bluffs we can call off their bluff. l think Ato used his head and l totally agreed with his comments
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Richard |
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So surprise pple still take you serious. Wonder what drives you on. It's distressing a little bit waking up each morning knowing that one may have to contend with 'running into' pple like u. I don't believe it's attention you are craving. There must be a name for your SICKNESS.
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Strawberry |
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Ato, I was amazed to note during the game yesterday that Mattew Amoah got to play the game until the final 15mins when he was virtually missing from the game. Adiyah needs more playing time for the world to take better notice of him. A pairing with Osei will score us more points and Dede Ayew was phenomenal on the day.
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My name |
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Ato are reading? the black stars are making to the end of the road. I mean they are lifting the trophy in this encounter and by then you wld have baked as many as 100000 and more pies inviting those who patronise you predictions to eat with you. I wld not be part b'cos I hate your predictions as pessimistic as they always
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ALANGTURA EMMANUEL,UG |
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Ato,i always love your show on joy.u are my man.I think Dede is vindicated of all the criticisms against him why he should be on the black stars team.Those people too should get to dinning table with you so that you can share ur humble pie with them.
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mancunian |
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when did u ever have any confidence in the team, that u r askin for restoration of ur confidence in them? i worked with u in 2005 and u were so damn sure we will not qualify then for the 2006 world cup..it happened much to ur chagrin and eternal embarrassment. you proceeded to deride their efforts at the world cup. i dont know what u said in the lead up to qualifying for 2010, but i sure bet u said they wont qualify..do urself a favour...dont make public statements about the black stars, leave them be..
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stryka |
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what pie did you call humble. Although they won they were unmpressive. The coach lacks confidence due to his incompetence. I hope the FA will stop shielding him and bring him up for questioning when the Angolans finally kick them out.
Again, why should Atta Mills give them 30,000 dollars for winning one scrappy match. I wont pay taxes again. I will find a way to evade them. Mark my words
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Wiredu |
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Thanks Ato, for admitting you were wrong. Saying that this is the weakest Black Stars we have ever assembled makes me wonder where you have been all this while. What sort of team were you expecting, given that 7 of our key players are nursing their knees? I do not think it is fair to expect a Team-B to do as well as a Team-A. I would have called the African cup of Nations a joke if Ghana's Team-B had beaten what is perhaps the best team on the African continent today (which is Ivory Coast). A little support for our Team-B is all we ask for.
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otu USA |
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Ato I am coming down to build humble pie factory and I know I will make a lot of money from u.......lol. We should pray the don't grow to behave like them.
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naadza |
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Ato, you were not the only one who had to eat humble pie, i'm sure mine was more than yours. Let's see what happens when we meet Angola. This team is not the best and we have to admit it. if they manage to get to the semis, i will choke on my pie
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Richard |
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It is difficult to determine what motivates Ato to do what he has been doing. Anytime anything is coming up he would predict doom and gloom. When the event turns out to be a failure he jumps up and shouts "I told you so; I knew this would happen." If it turns out good, he delivers a lame, foolish-sounding, highly-hypocritical 'humble pie' drivel. From the cedi redenomination to the Nkrumah celebrations, Ato has never predicted any thing good. This could be an attention-grabbing gimmick, but it sucks. We all know that sometimes it is better to prepare your mind for the worst so that when things turn out right, you are pleasantly surprised and when they turn out wrong you are not too hurt. But normally we keep those thoughts in our heads. It must be some form of SICKNESS that makes Ato feel that he must always be on the other side. It doesn't make you the smartest guy around. Doctors, you have some work in your hands to save a brother.
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Bobson |
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I wish them back home in the next round-Amen!
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nii |
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so how come you've not written anything on the just finished ndc congress? the blackstars will need essien until his career is over.. he has always heeded to the calls of this nation.. for someone with a level head ato, i think you are mostly unobjective. its sad.
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Coffie |
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Ato, i was also pessimistic but now am getting a bit optimistic.
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nii |
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and please can you tell me the reason why i can't vote on your polls anymore?
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CHARLES |
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I still think it was a fluky win. Don't eat too much humble pie, bro!
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David S. |
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One victory and we are hailing the yougn boys as if they have won the world cup. Let's be real, although they have won this game, it was a nervy game at times and as in the Ivory Coast game, the inexperience of some of the players showed at times. I think that the best team Ghana can put forward is one with a mix of older experienced players, and younger hungry players. I think players like Asamoah Gyan, and Haminu Dramani who are clearly not pulling their weight should be dropped. But Essien has always given 100% for the black stars when he is not injured. The very fact that he showed up in spite of not having played football since November shows his level of commitment.
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NewsOne |
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PRESS RELEASE
NO FREE LANDS IN GADANGME
In response to the Minister for Works and Housing (Hon. Albert Abongo) unfortunate statement on Citi FM morning show on 15th December 2009 regarding Government’s intention to give some Koreans “Free Land” in parts of the country (Not GaDangme Area).
We believe that if it is a Cabinet decision that would constitute a breach of trust and an affront/betrayal to GaDangmes and other Ghanaians who believed in the manifesto pledge to return our Lands to us but NOT to Koreans.
The sad part of his statement is that the houses which will be put up in Accra will be Executive Houses. What is the difference between this “Abongo Houses” and the Ghana@50 houses?
The Abongo Housing project is essentially a private venture by a private firm, Home Finance Company (HFC) and Not State Housing Corporation. Hence compulsorily acquired Lands cannot have the purpose of acquisition changed to benefit some Corrupt Individuals, Businessmen, Politicians and their Korean Cronies to the detriment of the real owners.
We want to point out to the Korean Government that what we need in Accra is REGENERATION of Social Housing and not executive Houses. The lands in question are for FARMING purposes and must be used to support the President’s State Farms and the Youth-in-Agric programmes not a potentially corrupt-laden housing scheme.
This we believe will be worse than the “Looting Brigade” we have experienced with past Governments. We have noted with Great Shock the arbitrariness in the earlier “return” of GaDangme Lands, which did not take into account the major stakeholders thus running into difficulties and therefore truncated the process amidst violence.
We are again surprised by government’s inability to correct the ungazetted re-naming of the Accra Sports Stadium. We have learnt with shock the expose by an Accra based radio station Joy FM, when the spokesperson for the Vice President said the WIFE had been allocated a state property in Accra for her personal NGO, which was not part of the government promises during the campaign and also we the electorate did not vote for and NOW this?
1. We thus call on Vice President John Mahama to give a full disclosure to the fine details as to
I. When this State property was allocated
II. How much was paid for it
III. Reason for allocation
We call on Vice President John Mahama to advice her wife to vacate the property immediately, go and rent her own office for the NGO, because we the GaDangmes are not going to benefit from her Parochial Interest.
We believe that our silence MUST NOT be misconstrued as consent.
We objected to the previous Government’s actions and we were hoping that this Government (NDC) would have done better as their slogan goes. We believe that we have given enough time and space for things to be done properly, BUT we have been compelled under these unfortunate circumstances to serve Notice of our abhorrence to this attitude of Government (NDC) in our affairs.
We demand an explanation for the double standards of the Government: And call on the President to rethink these Decisions before we strike. We are committed to fight, this time even harder than ever before until the proper thing is done.
All the same we wish to laud the Government for initiating policy of using the L1 as medium of instruction at the lower primary. Yet again, we wish to state that we shall abhor the use of any language but Ga and Dangme within GaDangme Region.
God bless Ghana, God bless GaDangme
For and on behalf of GaDangme Youth Association
Nii Marma Marquaye
Vice President
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Ojam |
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This should tell you how shallow minded and jumpy your thoughts are. Sober minds dont behave the way u do.
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peter yeboah |
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oh Ato... Ye of little faith. U better come join the theming die hard black stars fans, cos this is just the begining. Greater suprises lie ahead for ur type. U either cheer the stars now, or have eggs not in yr humble pie but on yr face forever.
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NEVER GIVE UP. |
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More support for the stars. My motor is till the final whistle, for all Black Stars matches, everywhere. Prophets of doom like Ato will feed on humble pies as long as they remain where they are. Don't join them. Have in the Lord. He makes impossibilties possible. The moment U give up on the Stars u give on God,yrself, and our nation. Never say defeat, till it's over... apply this in all aspects of yr Life. Cowards die several times b4 they their death.
Say, victory and it shall come to pass. Let it be "wth u" according to yr faith, but wth the Stars according to my faith. Cheerio.
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| Poll |
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| Government is losing court cases because... |
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| The AG is incompetent |
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31% |
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| The judges are biased |
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21% |
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| You win some and lose some |
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48% |
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| Total Votes: 371 |
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