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
Sports
GoldStars GPL feat no fluke

No prophet in Ghana would have been taken serious with prophesies of Bibiani GoldStars becoming the new champions of the 2024/25 Ghana Premier League (GPL).
That is not to take anything away from Coach Frimpong Manso, an Asante Kotoko legend, and his boys for the yeoman’s job they did in the just ended season.
They deserve every bit of the plaudits coming from well-wishers.
They came, they saw and conquered on their fourth year (2021/2022 season) in the elite stage of Ghana football.
Of course, this can only be a reality in the end but not a sound prediction at the start of the season.
But, so has it been. Stories like that of GoldStars sharply brings to mind a similar fairytale orchestrated in the advanced English Premier League (GPL) with the 2015/16 edition.
In the face of the Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool dominance, Leicester emerged with a bang, conquering every hurdle in sight with unsung heroes like Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Shinji Okazaki, Leonardo Ulloa, Danny Drinkwater, Robert Huth, Riyad Mahrez and others.
There was no indication of that sort at the start of the season.
As usual, the focus was on the aforementioned heavyweights but Leicester took the competition by storm to record a historic win.
Back home, the GoldStars story is not different. Despite the recent struggles by perennial favourites, Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, the two have always found their ways in fans prediction regarding the side to emerge winners.
Interestingly, both sides just managed to end up in the top four after Nations FC’s decision to abandon a game against Basake Holy Stars who cost them dearly, in the end, forfeiting the said game and going ahead to suffer a further three points deduction penalty.
Nations FC were actually the top favourites for the title until that ill-fated match against Basake Holy Stars.
Campaigning for the second year in the competition, very few followers of the game gave the Timber giants any chance.
But in the same ‘Rambo’ style, teams like Medeama SC and Aduana Stars descended on the GPL, GoldStars emerged with all guns blazing, strategically employing a tactic of making the Dun’s Park in Bibiani, a waterloo for visiting teams.
On a few occasions, they sprung surprises on the journey, recording a few upsets against gullible teams including Hearts of Oak in Accra.
They had a promising coach like Frimpong Manso who is yet to establish himself among the elites local coaches maybe because he is yet to work with any of the established club sides in the country.
But winning the local competition with a less endowed club makes you a legend, and truly, he has become one.
To management and other members of the technical team, one could only congratulate them for a job well executed.
The players have a huge role to play in proving that the feat was no fluke and that GoldStars has come to stay; and would continue to make an impact in the local game.
Much is not known about these players except Vincent Atinga who plied his trade with Hearts of Oak and Medeama SC. Others like Samuel Attah Kumi, Frank Amankwah, Kelvin Oppong, Charles Gyamfi Kamara, Abdul Farouk Amoaful, Gideon Anaba, Samuel Acheampong, Foster Agyei and Yakubu Haqq remain emerging talents aiming to carve a niche for themselves.
Definitely with the new challenge, some areas of the team would be strengthened as they face the finest sides on the continent.
Another season with a new champion should also serve as a wake-up call for the likes of Hearts or Oak and Asante Kotoko to quickly return to their glory days lest they lose their enviable place among the football elite clubs. Well-done GoldStars.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Golden Kick, a tricky obstacle for Kotoko in MTN FA Cup final tomorrow

The University of Ghana Stadium will come alive tomorrow when Ghanaian giants, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, take on lower tier side, Golden Kicks FC, in a thrilling climax to the 2024/25 MTN FA Cup final tomorrow at exactly 5pm.
The much anticipated game, which is more than just a battle for silverware but a meeting of tradition and ambition for both teams, is expected to draw thousands of football fanatics across the country to the Legon stadium for what promises to be a dramatic and tricky finale to this season’s domestic cup competition.
After an unsuccessful season in the Ghana Premier League which saw the Reds miss out on the title to Bibiani GoldStars, the Porcupine Warriors will be desperate to finish the season on a high by clinching the title to secure a place in the next CAF interclub competition.
The Reds have a rich history in the FA Cup competition having won it nine times and will be eyeing their 10th title to stamp their authority as the overall best.
Before reaching this stage, Asante Kotoko eliminated formidable opponents like True Democracy, Sekondi Eleven Wise and Berekum Chelsea in the semi-final.
The availability of players like Justice Blay, Kwame Opoku, Frederick Asare, Peter Amidu Acquah and striker Albert Amoah, among other notable players will be a big boost to Coach Karim Zito’s side.
Meanwhile, the task will not be an easy one for Kotoko looking at the way their opponents reached the final with wins over Accra Hearts of Oak and Bechem United before climaxing it with Attram d’ Visser.
Coached by young and tactical Fiifi Parker Hanson, Golden Kicks have a combined youthful team with tactical discipline to punch well above their weight and relish the opportunity to shock the giants once more on a bigger stage.
This final is more than just a contest between Premier League royalty and a hungry underdog but rather a tale of two contrasting football identities. Kotoko brings the weight of tradition, experience, legacy and pressure while Golden Kicks arrive with nothing to lose and everything to prove which makes the game a promised one, full of thrills and fireworks.
By Enoch Ntiamoah