Sports
Kudos, Referee Daniel Laryea
Despite the absence of Ghana at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, the country featured in conversations around the tournament from start to finish; or at least the semifinal stage.
Interestingly, not many of the countries that participated in the championship did enjoy that leverage.
Surfing either traditional, social or new media, Ghana’s name has featured prominently in several conversations, courtesy of an intense rivalry between Ghana and brothers, Nigeria.
This is because fans of the two countries have attempted to give reasons to support qualification or otherwise to AFCON.
Ghana’s failure to qualify for the AFCON was attributed to weakness, and the fact that the Black Stars have not been good enough.
Ghanaian fans, however, responded by placing bigger premium on the FIFA World Cup 2026 which Nigeria Super Eagles has failed to qualify.
So, for followers of the Black Stars, The World Cup is for the ‘big boys’, a category too strong for the Super Eagles.
This interesting ‘banter’ has dominated a few sports shows on both local and international networks with Ghanaians openly declaring support for opponents of the Super Eagles in the 2025 AFCON.
Personally, I asked a few for their reasons and the response was quite humorous. “If Nigeria wins the AFCON, Ghanaians would be dead on social media,” one said.
A Nigerian blogger also warned: “If Nigeria wins AFCON, Ghanaian soccer fans would run away from TikTok.”
At this point, one was forced to accept the social media war between soccer fans of Ghana and Naija.
A few Nigerian bloggers and content creators even reminded Ghanaian fans of their ‘brotherliness’ and the need to support each other as West Africans to keep the trophy in the face of the North African challenge.
Interestingly, the Ghana-Nigeria rivalry has transcended beyond sports and ventured into areas of hospitality where both countries are claiming to be better than the other as far as preparation of ‘jollof’ was concerned.
In an attempt to win over Ghanaian fans, a few bloggers posted videos admitting for the sake of peace, that Ghana ‘jollof’ was better.
But the protest by fans over the appointment of Ghana’s Daniel Laryea as the referee gave a new dimension to the relationship between the two sets of sporting rivals.
It started with concerns why a West African referee was appointed for such crucial tie between a West African nation and a North African opposition.
That subject changed to the assumption that since Ghanaian fans were against the Super Eagles, Referee Daniel Laryea could do their bidding by giving Nigeria a raw deal.
However, Daniel Laryea made the entire nation of Ghana proud with a solid performance in the match watched across the globe.
Many factors contributed to make the game a tensed one; host nation performing in front of thousands of home fans plus a hungry Nigerian side that was bent on causing the biggest upset of the competition.
Definitely, these circumstance could extend to affect the match officials. That notwithstanding, Daniel Laryea proved to the whole world he has what it takes to occupy the same office with some of the top referees in football.
He commanded discipline among the players; there was calm on both benches despite a few disagreement over decisions – but football is like that.
Every sincere fan that watched the game closely would admit that Daniel Laryea’s performance was one of the best in the competition and must be commended rather than condemned.
Clearly, Laryea settled the ‘jollof’ rivalry with a commanding display. What is left now is how the Black Stars keep the ‘jollof’ title delivered by Laryea in Ghana with a fine performance at the World Cup because the Nigerian fans would be following closer than they think.
By Andrew Nortey
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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.
