Sports
Gt. Oly to cut Kotoko’s lead further
Second-placed Accra Great Olympics will be eager to rev up their title ambitions slicing league leaders, Asante Kotoko’s lead to six points by securing a win against Accra Lions at the Accra Sports Stadium in their Ghana Premier league (GPL) Week 19 fixture tomorrow.
With Kotoko and Hearts absent from league duties this weekend after the two traditional giants battled it out yesterday in the Presidents’ Cup, Olympics can momentarily seize the occasion to cut Kotoko’s 40 points haul by increasing their tally to 34 points.
This also puts a distance between Olympics and third and fourth-placed sides, Bechem United and Aduana Stars respectively, both on 30 points and desperate to displace Olympics.
The ‘Wonder Club’ showed a lot of character and fighting spirit to hustle a late 2-1 winner against visiting Real Tamale United (RTU), signifying their status as an eminent contender for the title race.
But playing as the visitors on this occasion against Lions who sit on the edge of the relegation drop zone, Coach Annor Walker and his boys must expect a spirited fight from the young team, who have shown not to lack in talent but in finishing and experience and bear a strong resolve to avenge their 3-1 defeat suffered at the hands of Olympics in the first round.
In a game that will significantly impact the chase for top-four places, fourth-placed Aduana Stars will be seeking a revenge mission against fifth-placed King Faisal as the two sides clash at the Baba Yara Stadium.
King Faisal knocked Aduana Stars 3-1 at Dormaa, shattering their long-held record as an invincible ground for visiting teams and with Aduana’s 30 points just a point better than Faisal’s 29 points, they will be motivated to exact their revenge to put a significant distance between them and the Kumasi-based club.
Given the onerous nature of Aduana’s task as Faisal have lost just once at the Baba Yara, much will be expected of ‘Ogya boys’ marksman, Bright Adjei, who has hit fine fettle – bagging 11 goals – just two goals shy of Kotoko’s Cameroonian marksman, Franck Etouga, to provide the clinical moments Aduana needs to emerge victorious.
In other Sunday fixtures, 14th-placed Bibiani Gold Stars will welcome sixth-placed Medeama to the Dun’s Park; eight-placed Karela United host tottering Ashantigold at the CAM Park, whilst Eleven Wonders will draw inspiration from their 4-1 walloping of Ashgold at Obuasi as they confront Berekum Chelsea in a derby clash at the Ohene Ameyaw Park.
High-scoring Dreams will account for bottom-side Elmina Sharks at the Dawu Theatre of Dreams, while the early fixture today will witness RTU’s attempt to quickly shrug off their last-gasp loss to Olympics when they lock horns with Legon Cities at the Tamale Sports Stadium.
BY NANA BENTSI ODURO
Otto Addo is taking a calm and focused approach to the World Cup after being drawn against England, Panama, and Croatia in Group L.
“I look forward to every game as special,” he told ghanafa.org.
“Very important for us that we don’t underrate any team. For sure, England is the favourite in that group,” he acknowledged. “But for me as a coach, to be honest, I’m looking at each and every game equally.”
Addo is particularly focused on getting a strong start against Panama. “I’m hoping that we have a good start against Panama, that will be very, very crucial,” he said. “It will make the other games a little bit more relaxed and easier for the players psychologically. We will use the window of March for test matches, and then see,” he said.
Despite being a young team, Addo is proud of his squad’s progress. “I think we did very well in the qualifiers ” he said. “We didn’t lose a single official game, like the qualifying games, we did very well. We just played one draw and the rest we won, so we had quite a good year in 2025, after a bad year in 2024’’.
“Even though we have a very young team, we really, really did well, had a good harmony in the team, good union,” he added.
Ghana will open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Panama in Toronto on June 17 before facing England and Croatia in the other Group L matches on June 23 and 27 respectively.
The unbeaten away run of Accra Hearts of Oak will be put to the test tomorrow when they visit the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale to play as guests of Karela United. Described as one of the top-liners of the weekend games, the match will pitch one of the best home teams against the best away team, with their records on the line.
After playing a pulsating 2-2 draw with Kumasi Asante Kotoko last week, league leaders Medeama SC return to their fortress, the TnA Stadium, to welcome Berekum Chelsea FC in a clash of former league winners. Medeama have struggled in recent times to hold their own against the ‘Bibires’, losing their last four games both home and away.
However, according to Head Coach of Medeama, Tanko Ibrahim, that sequence of results will come to an end tomorrow as they look to crawl out of the claws of their opponents with victory. Eleven points separate the sides, with Berekum Chelsea lying a distant 14th position on the log. They have been a pale shadow of themselves this season, and it remains to be seen if Coach Samuel Boadu’s side can keep the bragging rights over the Yellow and Mauves in what has been described as one of their worse starts to a league season.
Today, second-placed Kpando Heart of Lions will trek to the Kwame Kyei Sports Complex in Abrankese to play as guests of struggling Nations FC. Having suffered a 1-0 away loss to Basake Holy Stars in their last game, Nations FC would look to pick all three points to better their current 12th position.
In other games, the Hohoe Sports Stadium will come alive as new boys Hohoe United FC welcome Kumasi Asante Kotoko. The Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex in Tema will host the Vision FC versus Young Apostles FC game, the Tuba Astro Turf will host the Dreams FC versus Bechem United FC clash, while the Nsenkyire Sports Arena will host the Samartex FC versus Bibiani Gold Stars game. High-riding Aduana FC will sort things out with Basake Holy Stars at the Nana Agyeman Badu I Park in Dormaa.
By Raymond Ackumey
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