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Ghana coach downplays ‘danger’ of his reshuffle
Otto Addo
Ghana coach Otto Addo acknowledged the “danger” of integrating a number of new players into the squad ahead of the World Cup, but he does not believe it will have a destabilising effect.
Addo, who took charge in February after Ghana’s disastrous Africa Cup of Nations campaign, handed debuts to Inaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey and Mohammed Salisu last Friday’s 3-0 friendly loss to Brazil.
The 28-year-old Williams won one cap for Spain in 2016 and Lamptey, 21, played regularly for England’s youth teams before opting to switch allegiance.
German-born Addo, who played for Ghana at the 2006 World Cup, has also called up Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer and Stephan Ambrosius, both capped by Germany at Under-21 level.
“It’s always a danger to get new players, especially if the players who are there before achieve something really, really good,” said Addo, who oversaw the World Cup play-off win over Nigeria in March.
“There’s a group dynamic which I don’t want to break, but I think from what I saw they were welcomed well.
“They did well in training and get along with each other and it’s not like they were strangers. Before some knew each other from playing in the same league and everything is okay.”
Addo believes adding European-born members of the Diaspora will increase competition for places and benefit the Black Stars.
“It’s a good situation. We have pressure from the bench because new people are there who are very, very solid in Europe, and we have players on the pitch who have to prove themselves,” he said.
Addo admitted to being “very unhappy” with the nature of his team’s defending at set-pieces, but insisted the loss to Brazil would provide a useful learning opportunity before heading to Qatar.
“I was very disappointed, especially with the set-pieces. They had a lot of chances. We were a bit lucky in some situations they didn’t score.”
But he bristled at the suggestion the four-time African champions were not ready to compete at the World Cup.
“We lost 3-0 so everybody probably thinks this is a weak team. This is maybe an advantage for us,” he said.
“Everything brings something good if you learn from it. I hope that I learnt myself. Maybe I have to do some things differently. If everybody thinks like that then we’ll do better. I’m not concerned at all.”
The Stars beat Nicaragua in their second international friendly on Tuesday.
Ghana play Portugal in their opening match at the World Cup on November 24. They have also been drawn alongside Uruguay and South Korea in Group H. – AFP
The Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disbursed GHS134,000 to 22 students under the latest round of his Scholarship and Bursaries Programme.
According to a statement from his office, the 22 beneficiaries are enrolled in 16 tertiary institutions across the country.
They are studying various courses, including medicine, marketing, law, public health, midwifery, business administration, education, and secretaryship.
The MP’s office commended the beneficiaries, especially the five students currently studying medicine and physician assistantship, encouraging them to remain committed to their studies.
The statement indicated that the scholarship initiative, which began in 2017, aims to support brilliant but needy students from the Ofoase Ayirebi Constituency to further their education. So far, about 700 students have benefited from the program.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Four tricycle operators, popularly known as ‘Pragya’, have been prosecuted and fined GH¢600 each equivalent to 50 penalty units by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Sanitation Court for obstructing public roads at the Agbogbloshie Market.
The offenders, who were arrested by Public Health Officers of the AMA during a routine enforcement exercise, pleaded guilty to the offence and were subsequently convicted by the court.
The four operators were among the 21 offenders recently arrested at the Agbogbloshie Market for various sanitation and public order violations, including selling on open drains, obstructing walkways, and trading at unauthorised locations.
Speaking after the court proceedings, the Head of Public Health at the AMA, Madam Florence Kuukyi, said the court was lenient with the offenders since it was their first appearance, hence the fine, and warned that subsequent offenders would face stiffer penalties, including imprisonment.
