Sports
Black Meteors must make it this time!
Nuamah – In-form Meteors player
Ghana’s Black Meteors were last Friday given a hard-hittingpassageway to the TotalEnergies Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations after being drawn with host nation Morocco, Guinea and Congo.
The strong-willed Ghanaians are expected to play the two-week tournament’s Group A opener against Morocco on Saturday June 24, 2023 at the Prince MoulayAbdellah Sports Complex in Rabat.
Other members of the group are Congo and Guinea.
Group B features holders Egypt, Mali, Gabon and Niger in what promises to be a high-flying show of grit, guts and splendour.
The first three nations will get their ticket for the Summer Olympics in 2024.
It is so sad that the Meteors have never qualified for the quadrennial tournament since they last participated in the Athens 2004 edition – and, it certainly does not speak well for Ghana that became the first African country to win a medal (bronze) at the football event of the Olympic Games.
That Barcelona 1992 feat opened the floodgates for Nigeria as they proceeded to snatch gold during the Atlanta ’96 Olympics, followed by another gold four years later by Cameroon at the Sydney Olympics.
Sadly, Ghana has struggled over and over again to make it to the Games and the last time they came close was in 2019 where they were pipped to it by South Africa, after a heart-stopping penalty shoot-out.
Today, there is a fresh generation of Meteors players led by Daniel AfriyieBarnieh, who has sworn to snatch a spot in the Paris 2024 Games.
Undeniably, they may have demonstrated it strongly during the qualifiers when they dispatched Algeria from the campaign after a ferocious double-do.
Reports suggested that the Algerians employed every sinew of tricks under their sleeve to upstage them in the first leg played in Algiers, but failed to break through the dogged resistance of the Ghanaians who covered every blade of grass on the night. At the end of the nervy, heart-pumping exchanges, the Meteors battled for a 1-1 draw with Abdul FatawuIssahaku’s scoring a stunning long-ranger at the 19 May 1956 Stadium in Annaba.
Ahead of the Meteors’ 83rd minute goal, Ghana goalkeeper Danlad Ibrahim had saved a seemingly controversial penalty to the chagrin of the home crowd. But the Algerians would pull the leveller through another spot-kick to give themselves a lifeline in the return.
Sparklingly, Algeria’s nemesis – FatawuIssahaku, was on hand again to punish the North Africans – finishing off an electrifying gleamy run from Ernest Nuamah, on the left. It was a game the Ghanaians could have put away by a bigger margin, if they had made the most of the opportunities that tantalizingly galloped their way. All the same, Coach Ibrahim Tanko’s boys have shown extraordinary courage and determination in the qualifiers – proving why Ghanaians can rely on them to break the nearly two-decade jinx.
Indeed, players like goalkeeper Danlad Ibrahim, Aaron Essel, Alex SarfoOpoku, David OppongAfriyie, Samuel Abbey-AshieQuaye, Dominic Nsobila, Emmanuel Essiem and AbassSamariSalifu among others, have all proven they have what it takes to wow the continent in the Morocco tournament – and proceed to the Olympics with an amperage of expectation.
The team’s Management and the Technical Team must take a critical look at the Meteors fragile departments and begin to work on them before they depart for the tournament. Let us remember we are housed in the same group as host nation Morocco and cannot afford to take things for granted.
Yes, we may have a solid squad; but we can do better to tighten the bolts and smoothen the rough edges – all in a bid to present a formidably winsome representation.
Having failed many times to make it to the Olympics, we must do all we can to ensure we do not miss the boat again this around. Hopefully, we can scale through!
PlainTalk with John Vigah
Ghana Premier League side, Nations FC, may have suffered the drop in the just ended Premier League and are destined for a fresh campaign in the Division One League (DOL).
But they stand a huge chance of remaining in the elite stage of the game as they face Dreams FC in an epic MTN FA Cup final at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium tomorrow at 6pm.
Dreams FC have been there before; going ahead to taste the honours in the 2022-23 season after defeating King Faisal.
Coming from a season that saw them crawl from the initial stages of the league to finish on a respectable fourth position, they come in as strong favourites to double their honours in the nation’s second top football competition.
History favours them in this regard. On their first final, they conquered and based on this, connoisseurs of the game have tipped them to make it ‘two-on-two.’
But Nations FC have been empowered by the age-old adage that “He that is down need fear no fall.”
Nothing can be worse than suffering relegation and exiting the limelight as far as exposure is concerned.
But the FA offers a decent opportunity to make them stay relevant.
Conquering Dreams FC would not just make them MTN FA Cup champions. It will grant them the prestigious slot to represent Ghana in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) second tier club competition- the Confederations Cup.
With Dreams FC harbouring the same ambitions, the stage is, therefore, set for a final that promises to be explosive and uncompromising.
The situation of Nations FC might have come to many as a surprise, considering their promising start to the season, with their defence especially, marshalled by Black Stars defender, Razak Simpson, and colleague central defender, Raymond Grippman, earning a lot of reviews.
But despite the struggles they endured at certain times of their campaign, the MTN FA Cup always provided slices of good fortunes as they managed to navigate their way to the final.
Road to the top
Nations FC began the MTN FA Cup competition on a promising note, enjoying some good runs with a win over DOL Zone Two side, Ebony FC, in the Round of 64.
That landed them in a tricky encounter with another high-flying Zone Two candidate, AshantiGold SC, a side that eventually won the title from the zone to qualify to the Premier League, but escaped.
At the round of 16 stage, they encountered and defeated Ghana Premier League side, Swedru All Blacks, 2-1 to gain progression to the quarter final stage where they edged Berekum Chelsea on penalties.
A dicey semi-final awaited them against Aduana FC in Swedru. It was a game Nations was given little chance to escape considering Aduana FC’s form but once again, they conquered to secure a final berth.
In total, the Abrankese-based club have scored eight goals and conceded only two throughout the competition, making them one of the strongest defensive sides in the tournament.
For Dreams FC, they defeated Division One League Zone Three side, Semper Fi, 2-1 to progress to the next stage of the competition where they accounted for Division Two side, Asanska FC, 2-0.
That handed them a quarterfinal berth where they faced Inter Allies and drew one all before winning 4-3 on penalties.
The happiest moment in their success story was a 3-2 semi-final win over GPL winners, Medeama SC.
With that feat, Dreams have been touted as potential winners as the match comes at a time the Nations FC side may be psychologically down over the weight of the challenge they face in the next season.
However, the competition has gain notoriety for not following any form guide and outcomes mostly coming as major surprises.
In this regard, Dreams may be tipped as favourite candidates but though Nations are wounded, the stakes could revive an insatiable desire to apply the brakes to turn the dreams of Dreams FC into a nightmare.
Support
The support from MTN Ghana has no doubt improved competition among the clubs with the attractive incentive packages for participating clubs.
MTN Ghana, which is celebrating 30 years of operations in Ghana, formally became headline sponsors of the Ghana FA Cup in the 2010/2011 football season after the competition had returned from an eight-year hiatus.
The first edition under MTN sponsorship was won by Nania FC, who defeated Asante Kotoko 1–0 in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Since then, the competition has been known as the MTN FA Cup, with MTN renewing its sponsorship several times — in 2013, 2017, 2020 and again for subsequent seasons.
By Andrew Nortey
The Black Stars have opened camp in Cardiff ahead of next week’s international friendly against Wales.
The team is being taken through training drills by head coach Carlos Queiroz.
Thirteen players trained at Dragon Park on Monday, with others expected to join the squad on Tuesday.
They include Ernest Nuamah, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Jordan Ayew, Caleb Yirenkyi, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Elisha Owusu, Gideon Mensah, Marvin Senaya, Jerome Opoku, Benjamin Asare, Joseph Anang, Solomon Agbasi, and Alidu Seidu.
The Black Stars will train in Cardiff for one week ahead of the international friendly against Wales on Tuesday, June 2, before traveling to the United States of America.
Coach Carlos Queiroz will use the period to assess his players before naming his final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Twenty-six players will be submitted to FIFA on Monday, June 1, as mandated by the competition regulations.
The Black Stars are drawn in Group L with Panama, England, and Croatia. They will open their World Cup campaign against Panama on June 17 in Toronto before facing England and Croatia in their other group matches.
