Sports
Worst ‘clasico’ in decades
Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko are the biggest traditional clubs in Ghana, without doubt.
There is no argument about their status as far as Ghana football is concerned. Despite their struggles in recent times, the weight of these clubs weigh heavily on the others who seem to be doing well.
In Africa, they seem to have experienced a serious slump in terms of performance on the field but in the history books, they remain strong forces.
In the glory days of Hearts and Kotoko, they were used to gauge the success of football in Ghana.
It is the reason why even in their weakest moment, games against them by the smaller clubs are considered huge tasks.
Just like it is in other countries, they provide local soccer fans with Ghana’s version of the ‘El Clasico’ which usually pitches the top two clubs of every country.
Ghana’s version of this great meeting was honoured on Sunday at the Accra Sports Stadium and the least said about the performance from the two teams, the better.
It was the poorest in recent times as fans had very little to enjoy from the drab game. It should explain the levels to which Ghana football has dropped, especially the local league.
Under normal circumstances, a clash between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko would create a holiday atmosphere; with several roads around the stadium and ministries area closed to traffic.
Security is heavily felt with fans preferring to leave their vehicles at home and go with public transport to avoid the traffic congestion around the venue – both Accra and Kumasi.
That exciting and anxious atmosphere appear to have lost. Now fans have become apathetic to Ghana’s Clasico.
The scene at the Accra Sports Stadium last Sunday was nothing to write home about; it was sad. It was sad to an extent that a game that required fans to be around the stadium by 12noon and go in by 2pm is now played in a virtually empty stadium.
The current Ghana ‘Clasicos’ lack the players whose names alone were enough to quench the thirst of supporters. With few media houses and the absence of social media platforms to promote such games, the mere mention or knowledge of players to appear for both sides were enough tool to hype the game.
Hearts of Oak fans would flood the stadium in their numbers, confident of seeing players like Ablade Kumah, Shamo Quaye, Owusu Afriyie, Offei Ansah, Ezekiel Alamu, Nanabenyin Crenstil, Emmanuel Armah, Joe Addo, Thomas Hammond, Thomas Quaye and others.
And at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) end of the pitch, one would see fans of Asante Kotoko cladded in red chanting names like Mohammed Odoom, Anthony Osei Kwadwo, Kwesi Appiah, Frank Amankwa, Emmanluel Appiah, Frimpong Manso, Stanley Abora, Sarfo Gyamfi, Joe Debrah, Thomas Boakye, Olli Rahmen, Isaac Boakye and others.
Any team that faced Hearts of Oak or Kotoko with these players in their line up knows it would not end well with them.
So anytime they meet each other, everyone was aware it would rain fire and brimstone.
But what is seen nowadays is quite unfortunate. Player quality has become a major headache for fans. One even wonders how some were recruited into the teams.
Interestingly, police numbers at the stadium last Sunday was more than the fans that turned out to watch the game, a situation that greatly affected the game’s temperament.
Clearly, it shows the level to which Ghana football has sank; calling for urgent measures to rescue it.
The game is lacking the players whose performances would keep fans cheering for over one hour and 30 minutes. Where these players have gone to remains a mystery. We have blamed player exodus on the poor quality of the league but little has been done to halt the trend because of the love for the mighty dollar.
Secondly, the mode of recruitment or scouting have become another problem as very good and talented players are ignored for players with managers that can pay for the platforms to perform to earn a deal abroad.
The problems are numerous with solutions in sight very few but if what fans watched as Ghana’s clasico is anything to go by, then stakeholders must rise up to save Ghana football.
By Andrew Nortey
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.
