Sports
Of Black Stars’ AFCON ticket, and football’s home violence
Sweat merchant of the Black Stars, CK Akonnor, deserves a bouquet of orchids for seeing Ghana to the Cameroon 2021 African Cup of Nations.
First, the Stars on Thursday held their own against South Africa away as they battled Bafana Bafana to a grueling 1-1 tie – a result that guaranteed Ghana a place in next year’s AFCON – with a game to spare.
And, this feat was achieved without some of the marquee names like skipper Andre Dede Ayew and brother Jordan as well as Thomas Partey, to mention but a few.
So, having already booked their ticket, many expected Akonnor to use many of the fringe players – who are mostly home-based, in their second game against Sao Tome and Principe played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Interestingly, we saw the Ayew brothers and Partey playing for the entire duration in the comfortable 3-1 home win.
Many Ghanaians would have loved to see Great Olympics’ star player and the league’s finest performer, Gladson Awako, go the whole hog, instead of the 45 minutes time he was allotted after the break.
One wonders what Akonnor wanted from Andre by keeping him in the game for 90 minutes. That was absolutely unnecessary!
In his last-ditch attempt to get his name emblazoned on the scoring sheet, the Ghana captain nearly sustained a nasty injury as a Sao Tome defender lunged his foot on the path of Andre who for several minutes, had to receive medical attention on the pitch.
All would have put the blame squarely at the feet of the coach if something bad happens to Andre, an important player he would need in the nation’s Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers in June.
Having already booked a place for Cameroon, it was a big moment for the coach to have given the locals the opportunity to prove their mettle!
Do not forget, these boys have been in camp preparing feverishly for South Africa as well as Sunday’s tie for about a month or so.
So, what is the essence for keeping them if you cannot give majority of these huge local talents the chance to demonstrate the stuff they are made of!
Anyway, Akonnor’s former boss Kwasi Appiah – who steamrolled the Cameroon 2021 campaign, also deserves some laudation for the qualification.
When you consider the fact that South Africa failed to qualify for the biennial football showpiece after their 2-0 loss to Sudan on enemy territory, you would understand why the Stars and their technical staff deserve some pat on their back for making it.
Importantly, we must start drawing the ‘master plan’ for the Cameroon tournament now if we really want to break the 39-year-old trophy drought.
It goes ugly again!
HOOLIGANISM at our stadia is increasingly taking a very terrifying dimension and only last Sunday, yet another nasty incident was recorded at a division one league game.
Indeed, what was supposed to be an enthralling afternoon of football turned bloodily ugly when supporters of the home side, Wamanafo Mighty Royals, turned their frustrations on match officials, hammering them to a pulp, for perceived biased officiating.
This was after their game against Sunyani-based Bofoakwa Tano had ended in a scoreless stalemate.
It was a pathetic sight as many media outlets reported that the officials were beaten in a manner that suggested they were notorious armed robbers.
The officials of the game were Niatire Suntuo Aziz, Suleman Mohammed, Yakubu Abdul Rahman and fourth referee Hasim Yakubu.
Predictably, the Ghana FA was expected to ban the venue, as it had done in similar situations; and they did just that. But it is not enough!
Perhaps, the FA must be told in plain language that their best in the fight against these hooligans is not enough to halt these needless incidents. It is not enough at all if we only end up preventing the offending clubs from using their home facility after they had inflicted carnage on human beings.
We must go beyond banning venues after such sordid acts – and like ‘blood-thirsty’ wolves after their prey, hunt for these iniquitous band of hooligans.
We have failed to deal ruthlessly with pitch hooliganism over the years and it would continue to bite us hard until we see these merciless miscreants arrested, prosecuted and gaoled to serve as deterrent to others.
Fortuitously, the FA has their cameramen recording these games and they must be able to produce video evidence from which such barbaric fans can be smoked out.
We have toyed with this issue for far too long and that is why such perpetrators get emboldened over the years and continue to break more bones season-in-season-out.
It is lamentably becoming a regular feature in our domestic leagues and it does not encourage potential sponsors to want to invest in the game. We better halt it now or just throw our hands up in despair.
PlainTalk with JOHN VIGAH
Attention will be at the Golden City Park in Berekum tomorrow as Hearts of Oak lock horns with Berekum Chelsea FC in a Ghana Premier League Matchday 6 game that promises an electrifying atmosphere.
Lying sixth on the league table with two wins and three draws, the Phobians visit a ground that has been favourable to them in recent times. In their last three visits to the Golden City Park, Hearts have amassed seven out of nine points, putting them in strong contention to win.
Head Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani says, “The team is making progress in its tactical identity despite the lack of goals, and this is something we are working on ahead of this game.”
Hearts will come face-to-face with former coach Samuel Boadu, whose side lies a distant 13th on the league table with a win and a draw from four games. Coach Boadu is yet to celebrate a victory over the Phobians since joining the Berekum lads and would hope this fixture marks a turnaround.
Ninth-placed Vision FC would trek to the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park in Bechem to play Bechem United, while new boys Hohoe United host Aduana FC at the Hohoe Sports Stadium.
Returnees Swedru All Blacks will welcome Basake Holy Stars to the Swedru Sports Stadium, with defending league champions Bibiani Gold Stars staying put at their backyard, the Dun’s Park, to welcome second-placed Heart of Lions FC on Monday.
Today at the TnA Stadium in Tarkwa, Medeama SC will clash with Samartex FC in a Western derby. Other games scheduled for today would see Eleven Wonders FC host Karela United at the Swedru Sports Stadium, while Dreams FC face Nations FC at the Tuba Astro Turf.
By Raymond Ackumey
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Ghana coach Otto Addo may not command the kind of fear and respect like Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Enrique and others in the modern game, but in his small corner, he is gradually climbing the ladder to greatness in Ghana, Africa and the world at large.
The aforementioned coaches attained greatness with club sides and, therefore, open an argument over whether one is not comparing apples to oranges. But no matter how one looks at it, they are all coaches harbouring similar ambitions to attain greatness in their fields.
Otto Addo is one of the young and upcoming coaches holding a lot of promise and was getting experience with his association with Borussia Dortmund in Germany until his path was directed by a Ghana call.
Although he was born in Germany, Otto Addo’s association with Ghana football dates back to 1999, spanning a period of about seven years; commencing with a 5–0 rout of Eritrea on February 28. He gained international prominence when he joined the squad for the 2000 African Cup of Nations. He featured as a midfielder in the team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
But like it’s often said, a prophet is not recognised in his own home and his efforts partially went unnoticed. He’ll go into the annals as one of the Black Stars coaches to have been fairly or otherwise criticised not just by ‘football people’ but fans who doubted him.
His sack has been discussed at various platforms by people whose knowledge and tactical acumen about the game remains questionable. Ghana’s Minister for Sports and Recreation, Mr Kofi Adams, at one point openly stated his doubts over Otto Addo’s ability to actually deliver.
No coach would feel secured in such turbulent times, but coach Otto Addo kept his calm and composure. On the corridors of his employers, however, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Kurt Okraku, openly rallied support for him, though a few ‘doubting Thomases’ still questioned his credentials.
That painted a picture of a people that forget easily and are quick to crucify. In a brief moment of adversity, Ghanaians forgot how Otto Addo was brought in to pluck qualification for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup from the jaws of the Super Eagles of Nigeria with a solitary goal over two legs.
The upshot of that feat was not one any Nigerian would want to remember. The scenes after the match were awfully chaotic, as fans vented their anger on facilities at the stadium. Back in Ghana, it was partying all night and day.
Otto Addo was labeled the football magician. He achieved something no Ghanaian coach had ever accomplished; a feat which Ghana with her all-time best teams could not attain. That was the climax to which Otto Addo took Ghana football, generating calls to start believing in the Ghanaian coach.
Following that to the World Cup proper was another story altogether. It was, or may have been, our poorest show at any of the four World Cup appearances. And just as it was stipulated in his contract, he bowed out after the Qatar World Cup to mind his Borussia Dortmund business with peace.
But as fate would have it, nature found a way to renew his romance with Ghana football after an unconvincing start to the America, Canada and Mexico dream World Cup under special advisor turned coach, Chris Hughton.
Ghana started the qualifiers on a winning note but not a convincing performance. It was saved by an Inaki Williams goal scored on the sixth minute of additional time against Madagascar at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. The Black Stars then slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the Stade de Moroni to Comoros to heighten calls for a new technical direction.
Then stepped in Otto Addo when Ghana occupied the fourth position in Group I with three points but with the countries in the group evenly matched.
By Andrew Nortey
