Sports
Premier League enters final week of season
As the Premier League enters the final week of the season, there is still plenty to play for at both ends of the table.
With two games remaining for all the clubs preparing to settle the campaign’s remaining issues, AFP Sport takes as closer look at the race to qualify for the Champions League and Europa League, as well as the fight to avoid relegation.
Chelsea and Leicester City are in possession of the coveted top four berths alongside champions Liverpool and Manchester City, who are guaranteed to finish second.
But both side’s grip on those spots in next season’s Champions League could easily be broken by in-form Manchester United in a nerve-jangling finale.
Third-placed Chelsea are one point ahead of both Leicester and United, who sit fifth and are behind the Foxes on goal difference.
On Sunday, Leicester lost 3-0 in a tricky trip to Tottenham, while on Wednesday United host West Ham and Chelsea travel to Liverpool.
After those games, the top four may have been shaken up significantly before the final round of matches on July 26.
Chelsea need four points from their last two games to guarantee qualification and play Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge on the last day.
Leicester and United meet in a decisive showdown at the King Power Stadium, which means if either of those teams win those last two games they are guaranteed to return to Europe’s elite club competition.
United are the form team after winning five of their seven league games since the restart, while Chelsea and Leicester have both shown recent signs of vulnerability.
The teams who finish fifth and sixth will qualify for next season’s Europa League, unless either of the sides in those positions win the Champions League or the Europa League – United and Wolves are contenders in the latter competition – when they restart next month.
Winning those tournaments is rewarded with Champions League qualification.
If the FA Cup winners finish in the top six, then seventh place in the Premier League would qualify for the Europa League.
Sixth-placed Wolves will qualify for the Europa League if they win their final two games against Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
Tottenham, one point behind Wolves, will be guaranteed to hold onto seventh place at least if they win their final two games against Leicester and Palace.
Sheffield United, who face Everton and Southampton, are one point behind Tottenham in eighth and need Jose Mourinho’s men or Wolves to slip up.
Norwich are already relegated, leaving two places to be filled by unwilling teams over the next week.
West Ham and Brighton are effectively safe after moving six points clear of the relegation zone, leaving Watford, Bournemouth and Aston Villa scrapping for survival.
Third-from-bottom Bournemouth are three points behind Watford and can move level on points if they beat Southampton at Dean Court on Sunday, with a three-goal margin of victory enough to take them above the Hornets on goal difference.
Watford take on Manchester City at Vicarage Road on Tuesday and shortly afterwards Villa host Arsenal.
If Watford beat City or take a point, then Bournemouth or Villa would be relegated if they fail to match the Hornets’ result.
On the last day, Villa head to West Ham, Bournemouth are at Everton and Watford travel to Arsenal.
After going six games without a win after the coronavirus hiatus, Villa have given themselves hope with four points from their last two matches, although conceding a late equaliser at Everton on Thursday was a major blow.
Bournemouth’s win against Leicester on July 12 was their first in 10 games, but a defeat at City kept them in the mire.
Watford had won their previous games before a 3-1 loss at West Ham on Friday dented their survival bid. – AFP
Sports
GoldStars GPL feat no fluke
No prophet in Ghana would have been taken serious with prophesies of Bibiani GoldStars becoming the new champions of the 2024/25 Ghana Premier League (GPL).
That is not to take anything away from Coach Frimpong Manso, an Asante Kotoko legend, and his boys for the yeoman’s job they did in the just ended season.
They deserve every bit of the plaudits coming from well-wishers.
They came, they saw and conquered on their fourth year (2021/2022 season) in the elite stage of Ghana football.
Of course, this can only be a reality in the end but not a sound prediction at the start of the season.
But, so has it been. Stories like that of GoldStars sharply brings to mind a similar fairytale orchestrated in the advanced English Premier League (GPL) with the 2015/16 edition.
In the face of the Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool dominance, Leicester emerged with a bang, conquering every hurdle in sight with unsung heroes like Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Shinji Okazaki, Leonardo Ulloa, Danny Drinkwater, Robert Huth, Riyad Mahrez and others.
There was no indication of that sort at the start of the season.
As usual, the focus was on the aforementioned heavyweights but Leicester took the competition by storm to record a historic win.
Back home, the GoldStars story is not different. Despite the recent struggles by perennial favourites, Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, the two have always found their ways in fans prediction regarding the side to emerge winners.
Interestingly, both sides just managed to end up in the top four after Nations FC’s decision to abandon a game against Basake Holy Stars who cost them dearly, in the end, forfeiting the said game and going ahead to suffer a further three points deduction penalty.
Nations FC were actually the top favourites for the title until that ill-fated match against Basake Holy Stars.
Campaigning for the second year in the competition, very few followers of the game gave the Timber giants any chance.
But in the same ‘Rambo’ style, teams like Medeama SC and Aduana Stars descended on the GPL, GoldStars emerged with all guns blazing, strategically employing a tactic of making the Dun’s Park in Bibiani, a waterloo for visiting teams.
On a few occasions, they sprung surprises on the journey, recording a few upsets against gullible teams including Hearts of Oak in Accra.
They had a promising coach like Frimpong Manso who is yet to establish himself among the elites local coaches maybe because he is yet to work with any of the established club sides in the country.
But winning the local competition with a less endowed club makes you a legend, and truly, he has become one.
To management and other members of the technical team, one could only congratulate them for a job well executed.
The players have a huge role to play in proving that the feat was no fluke and that GoldStars has come to stay; and would continue to make an impact in the local game.
Much is not known about these players except Vincent Atinga who plied his trade with Hearts of Oak and Medeama SC. Others like Samuel Attah Kumi, Frank Amankwah, Kelvin Oppong, Charles Gyamfi Kamara, Abdul Farouk Amoaful, Gideon Anaba, Samuel Acheampong, Foster Agyei and Yakubu Haqq remain emerging talents aiming to carve a niche for themselves.
Definitely with the new challenge, some areas of the team would be strengthened as they face the finest sides on the continent.
Another season with a new champion should also serve as a wake-up call for the likes of Hearts or Oak and Asante Kotoko to quickly return to their glory days lest they lose their enviable place among the football elite clubs. Well-done GoldStars.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Golden Kick, a tricky obstacle for Kotoko in MTN FA Cup final tomorrow
The University of Ghana Stadium will come alive tomorrow when Ghanaian giants, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, take on lower tier side, Golden Kicks FC, in a thrilling climax to the 2024/25 MTN FA Cup final tomorrow at exactly 5pm.
The much anticipated game, which is more than just a battle for silverware but a meeting of tradition and ambition for both teams, is expected to draw thousands of football fanatics across the country to the Legon stadium for what promises to be a dramatic and tricky finale to this season’s domestic cup competition.
After an unsuccessful season in the Ghana Premier League which saw the Reds miss out on the title to Bibiani GoldStars, the Porcupine Warriors will be desperate to finish the season on a high by clinching the title to secure a place in the next CAF interclub competition.
The Reds have a rich history in the FA Cup competition having won it nine times and will be eyeing their 10th title to stamp their authority as the overall best.
Before reaching this stage, Asante Kotoko eliminated formidable opponents like True Democracy, Sekondi Eleven Wise and Berekum Chelsea in the semi-final.
The availability of players like Justice Blay, Kwame Opoku, Frederick Asare, Peter Amidu Acquah and striker Albert Amoah, among other notable players will be a big boost to Coach Karim Zito’s side.
Meanwhile, the task will not be an easy one for Kotoko looking at the way their opponents reached the final with wins over Accra Hearts of Oak and Bechem United before climaxing it with Attram d’ Visser.
Coached by young and tactical Fiifi Parker Hanson, Golden Kicks have a combined youthful team with tactical discipline to punch well above their weight and relish the opportunity to shock the giants once more on a bigger stage.
This final is more than just a contest between Premier League royalty and a hungry underdog but rather a tale of two contrasting football identities. Kotoko brings the weight of tradition, experience, legacy and pressure while Golden Kicks arrive with nothing to lose and everything to prove which makes the game a promised one, full of thrills and fireworks.
By Enoch Ntiamoah
