Sports
A Simpson classic
“It takes a lot of time to get experience, and once you have it, you ought to go on using it,” an American Physiologist, Benjamin Minge Duggar, once said.
Such may be the story of Black Stars and Nations FC defender, Razak Simpson, who scored a classic goal to hand Accra Hearts of Oak a painful 1-0 defeat in their Ghana Premier League match at Kasoa last week.
Despite a vast experience in the game locally, Simpson was not going to be accounted among the best 10 defenders from the current season.
However, his stock made an upward turn the moment he caught the attention of national team selectors. Currently, it would be impossible to leave Simpson out of the best five defenders in the local league.
Yes, that is what it means to look for experience and continue to use it when it is acquired.
In their outstanding Ghana Premier League (GPL) match day 21 fixture at the Tuba Park, Simpson scored a screamer for Nations FC.
It is definitely a goal-of-the-season contender, and speaks volumes of the experience he has acquired from his brief association with the Black Stars.
This is the exact impact expected to see from a local star that gets the chance to ‘dine’ with the ‘big’ boys.
And for the impact, he is beginning to improve his performances in the league, it should be encouraging enough for the selectors to look for more local talents in a bid to improve the local standard.
In the aforementioned match, Simpson broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when he beautifully controlled ball on the chest and riffled straight into the net. It left everyone, including the Hearts players, stunned.
This was evident in the manner the goal was celebrated. And right after the game, he was mobbed by both players and fans as if the goal was just scored.
Assuredly, these are some of the confident performances fans want to see in the game but how would that happen when the players lack the bigger platforms and exposures only the Black Stars offer.
For few fans, Simpson’s name may sound new in the ear because he did not get the chance to feature for Hearts of Oak, Asante Kotoko or Great Olympics, the major traditional sides in Ghana.
However, this is a player that started his career with Elite Soccer Academy and introduced to the elite game in July 2019 when he was signed by Ashanti Gold on a five-year deal.
Two years on, he joined Liberty Professionals on loan until the end of the season.
He also had a stint with WAFA; incidentally tasting relegation with all of them until Nations FC offered another lifeline to the top and finally, his light shone.
Now with the Black Stars, Simpson is considered one of the top performers in the local game and showed his class with the picturesque goal against the Phobians.
One thing has become very clear under Coach Otto Addo in the helm of affairs of the Black Stars.
Interestingly, almost all the invites to local chaps have seen them transformed into instant hits. When Jerry Afriyie was given the opportunity on his debut against Niger, he scored the only goal for the Black Stars as Kudus Mohammed wasted a penalty chance to score again.
Then came Simpson, who was invited for the last two encounters for the failed AFCON bid and also played for a few minutes in the World qualifiers.
On Benjamin Asare’s debut, he became the first choice goalkeeper of the Black Stars, keeping two clean sheets in games against Chad and Madagascar.
Currently, he remains the Black Stars first choice goalkeeper, hoping to see an improvement in performance to remain at the top.
Surprisingly, a section of fans kept deliberating whether Simpson’s strike could have beaten Asare in goal. Obviously, these are some of the discussions that would drive fans to the stadium to get the answers for themselves.
But how could that happen if the local players are ignored. Now that Afriyie, Asare and Simpson have opened the door, observers would watch to see what happens next.
By Andrew Nortey
The curtains would be drawn on the Ghana Premier League tomorrow, with four teams locked in a fierce battle to avoid relegation.
Nations FC, Young Apostles, Swedru All Blacks, and Basake Holy Stars would hope to avoid joining Eleven Wonders and Hohoe United, who have already been relegated.
Nations FC must be at their absolute best to secure all three points against Karela United at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium, while hoping results elsewhere go in their favour.
After suffering a blow last week with a home loss to Vision FC, Coach Stephen Frimpong Manso, who won the league last season with Bibiani Gold Stars, will be desperate to guide Nations to safety.
However, the task is daunting given Karela’s home form; they have lost only one game at the venue this season.
Another battlefield will be the Baba Yara Stadium, where Swedru All Blacks, would need to beat Asante Kotoko to survive.
For Kotoko’s interim coach, Hamza Obeng, signing off a troubled season with a win would offer some comfort to the ‘Porcupine faithful,’ who have been calling for a new direction for the club.
At the Wenchi Sports Stadium, it is a day of destiny for Young Apostles, who need nothing short of a win against Samartex FC to survive.
Meanwhile, Basake Holy Stars must secure all three points against Dreams FC at the Ampain AAK II Sports Arena to avoid any head-to-head complications that may arise later.
Elsewhere, defending champions Bibiani Gold Stars remain at home at Dun’s Park to welcome already relegated Eleven Wonders.
In other fixtures, Vision FC welcomes Aduana FC to the Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex in Tema, and Berekum Chelsea faces Bechem United FC at Golden City Park. Finally, the Accra Sports Stadium will host newly crowned champions Medeama SC as they visit Accra Hearts of Oak.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
Across the sports world, hosting a tournament or championship has become inseparable from the expectation of absolute victory.
Breaking this down, hosting a major sports tournament comes with a very clear mandate: that is to ‘host and win.’
To ‘host and win’ means a country must successfully organise the championship and climax it by emerging winners.
The concept carries specific cultural weight and comes with different interpretation depending on the context.
In major continental or global events, it refers to the phenomenon where the host nation uses home-ground advantage, local fan support, and familiarity with the climate and facilities to lift the trophy.
A few countries have been able to achieve this in the past but generally, winning a major championship just because one is a home country is incredibly difficult.
This is the reason why Ghana’s failure to win the 24th Africa Seniors Athletics Championship staged in Accra would be pardoned.
It will be preposterous, in fact laughable, for any athletics follower to have such expectation for Team Ghana considering the quality of opposition at the championship.
But one aspect of the ‘host and win’ concept Ghana Athletics and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the championship did not impress was organization at a certain point.
Coming few days after the World Relays championship in Botswana which was excellently staged, expectation was high about Ghana’s ability to also showcase a world class show.
That expectation was also fuelled by the fact that infrastructure was not a problem as Ghana hosted a successful athletics event just about three years ago- the Accra 2023 Africa Games at the same venue.
But it started on a negative note, with complains over food, equipment and other issues flying all over with bloggers making huge capital out of it.
Gladly, Ghana’s Minister for Sports and Recreation, Mr Kofi Adams shed some light on the organization of the event which he said had received wide commendation from many of the participating countries.
According to him, the feedback from some of the countries that have attended previous events suggests that the Accra edition was the best.
The minister explained that Ghana met all organizational protocols since beating Botswana to the bid two years ago and also went on to clarify that some of the reported challenges occurred because only 11 of the 49 participating countries completed the accreditation processes within the spelt out timeline.
Personally, I agree with the sports minister to a large extent. Events of this magnitude often comes with challenges but a country/LOC’s ability to address them go a long way to show a certain level of commitment to stage a great show.
Maybe, what event or sports organisers must take cognizance of at such events is the growing trend of the lack of proper arrangement for the media to carry out their duties.
It was heartbreaking to see journalists, expected to cover the opening of the event, hover around the peripherals just because their space was occupied by the fans.
This is a growing phenomenon across events of late. This is another major concern officialdom must give attention to but for Ghana Athletics, it was a great opportunity to learn to avoid repeats in future.
By Andrew Nortey
