Sports
Does sex in camp worsen the trophy drought?
Sex is delectable. It is as pleasurable as alluring, so the experts say. But can it be enjoyed by players and officials at a football tournament, too, that has a trophy at stake?
The answer to this contentious question is probably embedded in the bosom of the former Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, who has travelled on a couple of occasions to football tournaments involving the senior national team, Black Stars.
In an interview with Happy FM nearly a fortnight ago, the former Deputy Minister made statements that suggested that there is a ‘sex galore’ in the camp of the Black Stars during tournaments and the practice has contributed to the team’s failure to clinch the African Cup of Nations trophy – in decades.
According to the Dormaa West Parliamentarian, there were occasions when the players clashed with officials over girls at their hotels.
“Ghanaians are too undisciplined. They cannot close their zips when they travel for tournaments as they keep chasing girls and disrupt the attention of players.
“I have followed the Black Stars to many tournaments and seen some of the management members changing girls at the team’s hotel, competing with the players for girls – most of whom are foreigners,” he alleged, believing that it was the reason the nation had not won a trophy at the senior level for decades.
Indeed, the last time Ghana won the continental Golden Fleece was in Libya ’82 – 39 years ago when they outkicked Libya’s Mediterranean Knights in a thrilling shoot-out.
Since then, the Stars have managed to dazzle their way to three grand finales (1992, 2010 and 2015), but missed the Holy Grail – one of them (2015) – inexplicably, after taking a 2-0 lead during the shoot-out with Cote d’Ivoire.
That the Ivorians had to resurrect from the two-goal slump to win the Cup at the expense of Ghana, will for many years be etched bitterly on the memories of long-suffering Ghanaian football fanatics. Not ready to accept the result, some Ghanaians described the loss as football’s most Himalayan mystery.
For Mr Oppong Asamoah, it is no mystery – forbidding anyone to seek consolation in the metaphysics, but rather pointed to attitudinal.
In short, the former Deputy Minister believes the ‘curse’ is self-inflicted, arguing that the sex-escapade in camp affected the players’ focus and psyche in the tournament – hence the failure of the team to break the trophy drought.
However, Asamoah’s assertion has been ‘rubbished’ by a former Management Committee member of the Black Stars for many years, Fred Pappoe, who described the claims as “unguarded, loose and unsubstantiated.”
Well, perhaps, instead of cursorily brushing aside Oppong Asamoah, there is the need to put some measures in place to forestall a recurrence, if any, during the Cameroon 2021 Nations Cup. We know that the former Deputy Minister cannot be totally wrong, though he may have over exaggerated the situation.
Getting the players to focus on the tournament is very significant and appropriate.
Ahead of the Black Stars’ appearance at the Brazil World Cup in 2014, the team’s psychologist, Professor Joseph Mintah, submitted a proposal to the Ghana FA to consider players to bring their wives or girlfriends to the tournament, insisting that it would boost their performance during the competition.
He explained that the Stars were going away for more than six weeks, and research has confirmed that the players could stage some disturbance because of the absence of their spouses after 21 days of being away from their families.
In 2014, England permitted both wives and girlfriends to join their camp, as the long pre-tournament World Cup camping without sex, could hamper concentration.
He proposed that the spouses must stay at the nearby hotel while a timetable be drawn for players to meet them to ensure effective control and monitoring of the system.
What of asking our players to focus on the Big Prize and abstain from sex altogether. Too big a task for them?
In any case, Mexico’s football team were ‘banished’ from having sex during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, in order to maximise their athletic performance. However, the team lost in the Round of 16, as they had in every World Cup since 1994.
Maybe, we could take a second look at Prof. Mintah’s proposal. For other officials of the team, the Argus-eye would definitely be feasted on them because of Mr Asamoah’s allegations and they would need no Angel to caution them to put up a good-as-gold behaviour.
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
