Sports
Hearts, Kotoko chase President Cup plus three points in Accra
• Who wins the President’s Cup?
The Accra Sports Stadium will explode into life tomorrow when Hearts of Oak lock horns with bitter rivals and defending Premier League champions – Asante Kotoko in a betPawa Premier League match-day 20 fixture – that has more than three points at stake.
The much-heralded encounter will serve as the 2023 President Cup; meaning winner of the day sails away with GHø50,000 to be presented by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who will grace the occasion.
Should the ‘Super clash’ end in a draw, the two powerhouses will split the points before proceeding to penalties to determine the winner.
However, straight victory in regulation time would guarantee three points for the winner as the loser will have to settle for GHø30,000.
Defending President’s Cup champions Hearts have recently seen some poor run of results, having lost twice in a row against Aduana Stars and Great Olympics on Wednesday.
With just a single win in their last five outings, the Phobians have dropped to sixth on the league table with eight points adrift leaders Aduana Stars.
A section of the agitated fans have expressed their displeasure with regard to Coach Slavko Matic’s approach and are desperately calling for his head.
The Serbian tactician will have to redeem himself by exhibiting his best to amass all three points against the arch rivals who they defeated to win the President’s Cup last year.
The visitors managed to bounce back from their disappointing 1-0 defeat to Aduana Stars to secure a hard-fought slim 1-0 victory over Bechem United in mid-week.
A win for the Porcupine Warriors will see Coach Seydou Zerbo and his charges close up the game on Aduana Stars, having garnered 31 points with leaders on 36 points.
At the Baba Yara Stadium today, struggling King Faisal will host Great Olympics.
The hosts will need nothing but the three points to move out of the relegation zone, having shared spoils with Aduana Stars on match-day 19 in a goalless stalemate.
On Sunday, the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park will be fired up when Bechem United welcome in-form Gold Stars to a cagey test.
Maxwell Konadu-led Legon Cities will have a tough hurdle to cross tomorrow when they tussle it out with Real Tamale United at the El Wak Stadium.
Eighth-placed Medeama SC will be at the Akoon Park tomorrow as they rub shoulders with Berekum Chelsea in a stiff contest.
The Tarkwa-based team will be without trainer Umar Abi who resigned after their 1-1 draw with Real Tamale United days ago, while bottom-placed Kotoku Royals make a trip to the Nana Kronmansah Park to face Nsoatreman.
Samartex will battle Aduana Stars while Tamale City face most high-performing Accra Lions at the Aliu Mahama Stadium on Sunday evening.
BY Linus Siaw Nartey
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.
