Brazil meets the African Brazil

Cultural, historical and footballing links between Ghana and the world champions are numerous.

The whole of Africa is behind Ghana this afternoon. Ghana symbolises the success story of Africa, at least in terms of its breakthrough into football's global elite. Brazil are the supreme undisputable giants and this is the clash of the tournament: the underdog against the superpower. The match promises to be exciting on the pitch and very interesting in terms of the subjects it raises off the ball.

If Ghana hadn't made it this far most of Africa would probably be rooting for Brazil. The many and varied layers of links between these two countries surpasses anything I could have imagined.

Take Carlos Alberto Parreira for starters. He was a young PE trainer who had studied English when he went to Ghana and landed his first job as a football coach. He was in his early twenties then and remembers days of "camping in army tents". That role qualified him to step up to assistant coach of Brazil when the dictatorship there decided to remove the communist manager João Saldanha and appoint Zagallo instead, prior to the 1970 World Cup. Ghanaians say their football was shaped by Brazil. It could be argued that Parreira's career was shaped and moulded by Ghana.

Football was brought to Ghana by the English, but it was Parreira's reign that initiated the modern era of the game. What the English first took to Ghana was imperial trade nous - first cocoa and then cocoa workers. In those days Ghana was known as the Gold Coast, and the bulk of the slaves "exported" across the Atlantic went to Brazil, where slave trading was legitimate until 1888.

Until the late 1800s the slave population of Brazil exceeded the free. This has had an enormous influence on Brazilian culture: music, dance, rituals that combine the two have their roots in African traditions. Brazil is the most African country outside Africa.

What has this got to do with football? As the thousands of comments - angry, informed, fascinating, passionate - posted on Guardian blogs since the beginning of the tournament show, football has much to do with nationalism, identity, cultural inclinations, patriotism and the weight of history and tradition.

Pele visited Ghana in the 70s and it was he who proclaimed that one day an African country would win the World Cup. His visit to war-torn Nigeria nearly 40 years ago led the two sides to declare a ceasefire - at least for the duration of the game.

Some years ago I met Nii Lamptey, the Ghanaian footballer who as a teenager was hailed as the new Pele. His story, harrowing and full of drama, is not unlike that of hundreds of footballers the world over, particularly African ones. Lamptey's dream of becoming Pele was smashed by the harsh realities of the laws governing the transfer of minors to European clubs, the immigration laws and work permits that affect foreign footballers, the bizarre requirements of international matches played in order to qualify for the above, the strains of foreignness and cultural otherness which make an individual vulnerable and unable to cope with adversity.

If Nii was the new Pele his native Ghana has been hailed as the "Brazil of Africa". A few days ago I was asked for an opinion: "How come Brazilians and Argentinians are so good at possession?" I reeled out my stock answer: most players in both countries come from poor backgrounds where groups of children with no toys can derive hours of entertainment from playing with a ball or bundle of rags. Good weather and hours of daylight mean they do this often and the fact that many are sharing the ball means each makes the most of his turn. Possession is the chance for self expression, the individual child's turn to enjoy. It is the object of the game. Surely, I was asked, that would be the same in Africa then? Of course it is. And in the tower blocks of Liverpool as well as the Gaza strip.

Brazil (and Argentina) have a history of success based on the ability to combine this individual desire to play with the ball with a long tradition of exposure to European professional football. Real success does not lie in raw talent alone, but in the ability to combine it with competitive efficiency.

For almost as long as Fifa has existed, Brazil has occupied a prominent role in the organisation of world football. The World Cup, Fifa's biggest business venture, has stirred up the debate on the role of football and international relations to such an extent that it has even been suggested that Fifa should replace the UN.

Imagine a world where Joao Havelange sat in Kofi Anan's chair.

I know. Best not. Eyes on the ball then. That's what will be writing history today.