Sports
Satellites must dream big again
A couple of days ago, Ghana’s national youth team – Black Satellites, were drawn into Group C of the 2021 Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations to be staged in Mauritania.
Though the focus of many fans may have been stolen away by COVID-19 concerns, the cynosure would still be on the youth team whose string of stunningly sterling performances in the past dazzled all, and won them thousands of disciples across the world.
Guess nobody has yet forgotten about the 2009 historic feat of the Satellites (led by Andre Dede Ayew) who became Africa’s only side to annex the FIFA Under-20 World Cup staged in Egypt?
Ahead of that bravado at the global stage, the brave Ghanaians in the same year had conquered the continent in Rwanda, beating Cameroon in the grand finale to clinch the diadem for the third time since its inception in 1979.
Sadly, since that historic feat, the Satellites have been struggling fatally as they have been swatted aside on a number of occasions in qualifiers to the World Cup.
Indeed, the team’s finest performance on the African stage in recent times was a third-place finish in 2015, six years ago.
In less than three weeks, specifically on February 14 (Valentine Day), the Satellites will begin yet another campaign to hunt for a ticket to the World Cup to be held in Indonesia, later in the year.
It appears that this time, the omen is good – perhaps, so it looks.
In December of last year, the Satellites sprang from behind to upset Burkina Faso 2-1, swaggering away with the WAFU B U-20 Championship trophy at the Stade Charles De Gaulles in Porto Novo in Benin. It was a thrilling piece of news, particularly for the Kurt Okraku Ghana Football Association (GFA) administration.
Dead-ball specialist Percious Boah was the Black Satellites hero, as he set up a goal before firing the winner from a free-kick to hand his country the title in the Benin capital. It was the crucial dazzler that took Ghana to the Mauritania 2021 championship where they would begin their campaign against Tanzania, then take on Morocco before squaring off with The Gambia in their final game.
As the team put their act together in preparation for the Mauritanian challenge, we can only wish them the best of luck, but urge the handlers to select a solidly winsome side capable of bringing honour to the nation.
We need players who aside from their skill and dexterity, would be prepared to die on the pitch for the result – rather than give up when they go down. We need a squad that is patriotic and willing to drive beyond the normal distance.
We need a doughty-charactered bunch of players who would see the Holy Grail and dash for it with all the strength and might they can muster. We need a team that is famished for glory and would not be swayed by anything aside a resolution to fetch gold.
The players that carved the historic feat of 2009 are not super humans. They are not out-of-this-world. They were simply fearless characters who dared to dream and pursued their ambition – ambition to carry Ghana aloft and make her the first African country to win the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. And, it was done – and accomplished in style as no other team but Brazil were beaten in the final for the Golden Fleece.
All eyes on you, Satellites. Make the nation proud again!
PlainTalk with JOHN VIGAH
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
