Category: Athletic

The road to the 2023 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, set to be held in the Ivory Coast, gets under way on Wednesday, 1 June, with the first three of 44 group stage qualifying matches set to be held in the space of 13 days.

The ‘big gun’ in action on Wednesday evening is Ghana, with the West Africans welcoming Madagascar to Cape Coast for a Group E clash.

The Black Stars are still buzzing after overcoming Nigeria to secure 2022 World Cup qualification two months ago, though their squad is missing key players in the shape of Thomas Partey (injury) and Alfred Dunan (retired from international football).

Thursday sees Egypt begin their post Carlos Queiroz era, as new coach Ehab Galal looks to lead them to a victory over Group D rivals Guinea.

“We are not here to ruin what the previous coaching staff did, we’ll try to keep the positive aspects and fix the negative ones,” said Galal. “There might be some changes to our playing style but nothing major yet.”

A busy weekend features hosts Ivory Coast in action on Friday night when they host Zambia, while Saturday’s headline fixture sees Afcon champions Senegal begin the defence of their crown by welcoming Benin to Dakar for their opening Group L clash.

Saturday also features Uganda visiting Algeria and Mali tackling Congo in Bamako. The Uganda Cranes will face a stiff test against their North African hosts, but coach Milutin Sredojevic is introducing new blood into the team, including Dulwich Hamlet forward Ibra Sekajja.

“I thank the coach for giving me this opportunity,” said Sekajja. “But I feel it has taken a long time to even be here. I feel so happy and I can’t wait to score goals to help the team win games.”

Matchday 2 fixtures begin on Sunday, while the outstanding Matchday 1 games will be caught up on Thursday, 9 June, with the key fixtures seeing Nigeria tackle Sierra Leone and South Africa face a stiff test away to Morocco in Rabat.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has admitted that the Atlas Lions are a cut above the rest in their qualifying group – “It’s clear that Morocco is the best team in our group. They were in the Afcon in January and were eliminated by Egypt and they are a very good team” – but he is hopeful of an upset on the road.

As for the Super Eagles, new coach Jose Peseiro has already gotten off to a losing start with defeat to Mexico in a friendly this past weekend, but he has promised that Afcon glory will arrive under his guidance.

“We will work with great ambition so that in the end we can finally call Nigeria the ‘four-time African champions’,” said the Portuguese tactician, who will also guide Nigeria in a match away to Mauritius when this double block of qualifiers wraps up on Monday, 13 June.

Source: Modern Ghana

German fastest sports brand manufacturer, PUMA has launched a new home kit for the senior national team, Black Stars.

The new jersey would be worn by all national teams including the Black Starlets, Black Satellites, Black Meteors as well as all-female national teams. 

The kit introduces a clean design in white, with the Ghana colours, red, gold, and green on the cuffs of the jersey.

The collar also has a little touch of gold colour and also the “Black Star” on the chest.   

The Ghana Football Association is likely to unveil the kit in the coming days as the team prepares for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Madagascar, Central Africa Republic and Angola.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A young pitch invader stormed the pitch to take a selfie with Karela United player Souradjou Rayies Alhassan during their encounter against Accra Hearts of Oak on Monday at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The game was very high-octane with Hearts in the lead with a quarter of the game left, but the pitch invader headed straight to Rayies Alhassan and calmly took a photo with him.

Police personnel walked onto the pitch and calmly apprehended the pitch invader, who was unarmed as bemused fans at the Accra Sports Stadium cheered him for his odd behavior.

But things got worse for the pitch invader as he was taken into the dressing room and was handcuffed back onto the field, with some fans venting their frustration.

Sulley Muntari tried to step in to salvage the situation for the handcuffed young pitch invader, but the Police didn’t listen as they took him into the police vehicle and drove him away.

According to information obtained by GNA Sports, he was taken to the Ministries Police Station for further questioning.

Meanwhile, the match ended in a 1-1 draw as Karela United’s substitute Emmanuel Owusu Boakye pulled parity for his side after Benjamin Yorke gave Hearts the lead in the first half.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, May 31, GNA – Sulley Ali Muntari displayed a masterclass performance in Accra Hearts of Oak’s 1-1 draw with Karela United in a match-day 31 encounter of the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League.

Benjamin Yorke gave Hearts the lead after a superb assist from Muntari, but Emmanuel Owusu Boakye’s late second-half strike ensured that the spoils were shared at the end of the match.

Hearts stayed in the fourth position with the point secured, while Karela United moved into the seventh position on the league table.

It was a high-octane start to the game with both sides on the front foot, but it was Hearts who had a fair share of the possession, but were not clinical enough in the final third.

Hearts were certainly missing the services of Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, who was away on national team duty as they struggled to test Karela United goalkeeper Felix Kyei.

Gladson Awako came within a whisker of putting Hearts ahead after the half-hour mark, but his free-kick from 25 yards was feeble and easily gathered by Karela United’s goalkeeper.

The home side made their pressure count in added time in the first half after Benjamin Yorke scored a superb goal after Muntari’s beautiful pass found him in the penalty box as he duly capitalized.

Yorke at the start of the second half could have doubled the lead for his side, but his close-range effort was dealt with by the Karela United defense.

The game was very enthralling in the opening quarter of the second half and Karela United striker Richard Berko bearly restored parity for his side, but Muntari stepped up with a brilliant defensive tackle.

There was drama in the 74th minute after a football fan stepped onto the field to take a selfie with Karela United player Souradjou Rayies Alhassan but was apprehended by the Police as the game continued.

The introduction of Umar Bahiru and Emmanuel Owusu Boakye did spice up the Karela United attack and deservedly pulled parity in the 84th minute through Boakye, who finished off a brilliant team move.

Both sides had to settle for a point at the end of the match.

Man-of-the-Match: Benjamin Yorke

Source: Ghana News Agency

German kit manufacturer, PUMA have officially unveilled Black Stars’ home jerseys for the 2022 World Cup.

Designed based on the Ultraweave template, the Puma 2022 Ghana shirt introduces a clean design in white, featuring the red, yellow and green colors of the Ghanaian flag on the cuffs.

Puma also unveiled shirts of Italy and four national teams competing at this year’s World Cup including African representatives Morocco, Senegal, the Black Stars Group H opponent Uruguay and Switzerland.

The Uruguay home shirt has a very simple design. The base is Uruguay’s traditional celeste blue colour with white mesh cuffs and a white one button collar. The template used is Puma’s Ultraweave, meaning sleeve seams are absent.

Source: Modern Ghana

The Ghana Football Association [GFA] have named Dr. Prince Pambo as the new team doctor for the Black Stars.

This follows after Dr. Adams Baba was shown the exit on Monday.

Communications Director for the country’s football governing body, Henry Asante Twum speaking in an interview confirmed that Dr. Baba is no more the team doctor for the senior national team.

He added that Dr. Prince Pambo, who is CAF’s medical head is the new team doctor for the team.

“There was a review,” he told Accra based Happy FM.

“Authorities saw the need for reshuffling so a decision was made to replace Dr. Adam Baba with Dr. Prince Pambo (as Black Stars Doctor).

“It’s just part of normal changes,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Black Stars will open their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] qualifiers against Madagascar on Wednesday, June 1 at the Cape Coast Stadium.

Source: Modern Ghana

Black Stars: Dr Baba Adams sacked as team doctor

Dr. Baba Adams, who is the Black Stars team doctor has been relieved from his post.

On Monday, reports emerged that Dr. Baba has been shown the exit ahead of the Black Stars’ 2023 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] qualifiers.

However, Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association [GFA], Henry Asante Twum speaking in an interview confirmed that Dr. Baba has been sacked as the Black Stars team doctor.

According to him, his performance was reviewed and authorities felt he must be replaced.

Asante Twum added that Dr. Prince Pambo is the new Black Stars team doctor.

“There was a review,” he told Accra-based Happy FM.

“Authorities saw the need for reshuffling so a decision was made to replace Dr. Adam Baba with Dr. Prince Pambo (as Black Stars Doctor).

“It’s just part of normal changes,” he added.

The Sports Medicine expert has served as the Head of the GFA Medical team since 2020 after he was appointed alongside Dr. Kofi Ablorh and Dr. Percy Annan.

Meanwhile, the Black Stars will open their qualifiers against Madagascar on Wednesday, June 1 at the Cape Coast Stadium before playing the Central Africa Republic on June 5.

Source: Modern Ghana

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski says his time with the club “is over”.

His future has been uncertain for some time, with it long been known that the Poland international will not sign a new contract with the Bundesliga champions.

The 33-year-old’s current deal does not expire until 2023 – but he has pleaded with the Bayern hierarchy to let him leave, with Barcelona reported to be his favoured destination.

In his clearest message yet, Lewandowski has said, “For today it is certain that my Bayern story is over”.

He went on to say, “I cannot imagine what happened in the last months of our further cooperation. Transfer will be the best solution. I believe Bayern will not stop me just because it can.

After eight years with Bayern, Lewandowski will walk away from the German city with an incredible goalscoring record, which will interest many of the big clubs in Europe.

He’s scored 344 goals in 374 games for the club, while picking up a haul of major trophies including eight league titles and a Champions League winners’ medal.

With Nations League fixtures against Wales, Belgium and the Netherland coming up, Lewandowski says he does not want to speak about his future again until after he has completed international duty.

“I don’t want to go any further at the moment. I would like to focus on the national team and the matches that we are going to play, and maybe after the national team camp we will have more time to say more about the situation. But for now I would like to end like this”, he said.

Source: Modern Ghana