Accra (Greater Accra)
24 April 2003 - Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Youth, Education and Sports
(YES) has sent a message of goodwill to Accra Hearts of Oak ahead of their
second leg match against AS Douane in Lome, Togo on Sunday.
A statement signed by
the minister said it is the wish of the football loving people of Ghana to see
the club that once won the Champions League in 2000 gain another victory to
enable them to advance to the next stage of the competition.
The statement called
on Hearts not to be complacent by the lone goal scored in the first leg in
Accra a fortnight ago, but to be inspired by their "Never say Die"
motto to go all out to register a convincing win.
The minister urged
the players to make dedication, discipline and commitment their guiding
principle and play above themselves to bring honour to themselves and the
nation.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2003 - The headcoach of Liberty
Professionals, Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio, has thrown the gauntlet by
declaring that his club is bent on winning the SWAG-Nyemitei Cup when they meet
Kumasi Asante Kotoko in the return leg match at the Accra Stadium Sunday.
In the first leg clash at the Kumasi Stadium last Sunday, Liberty
succumbed to a 1-0 defeat through injury-time strike by Daniel Yeboah, who
until recently was one of Attuquayefio’s stalwart defenders.
The Liberty coach attributed the defeat to a brief loss of concentration
by his players, despite putting up a strong resistance to the home side.
Despite conceding Kotoko’s improved form lately, Attuquayefio believes that a
different story will be told in Accra, especially with his talented young lads
bent on cutting a slice of football history by winning the prestigious
SWAG-Nyemitei Cup for the first time.
“We have identified and worked on our mistakes and on Sunday, we will
not be charitable to Kotoko,” he stated just after the team trained at their
Dansoman park on Wednesday.
In the last few weeks, Liberty, once a thorn in the flesh of the
nation’s top clubs, have been at the receiving end of Kotoko’s dreaded form,
chalking a hat-trick of victories in their last three clashes. Overcoming last
Sunday’s 0-1 loss and winning the cup will not come easy, but the Liberty lads
look determined to halt Kotoko’s traditional pre-season form.
In Kumasi, Liberty’s strikers, William Tiero and Ablade Morgan gave the
Kotoko defencemen a lot of anxious moments and on Sunday the two players will
again carry the hopes of the premier league’s emerging force.
In a related development, the State Insurance Corporation, sponsors of
the SWAG-Nyemitei Cup match, will officially hand over the trophy to SWAG at
SIC’s Head Office (Nyemitei House) on Thursday.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra)
24 April 2003 - Two late goals by Samreboi Samartex gave them the three maximum
points in the national middle league tie played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday.
The result brightened
Samartex's chances of making an entry into this year's premiership but did not
reflect the trend of play as the victors conceded most part of the game to
their opponents.
After both teams had
failed to thrill fans due to a dull first half, the second half resumed with
the whipping boys from Yeji playing aggressively in all the departments of the
game though they had nothing to lose or gain as they had lost all their three
previous matches.
However Samartex who
needed to win at all cost to remain in contention did what mattered most in
football when they shot ahead in the 80th minute through substitute
Albert Akwasi-Appaih from a rebound after goalkeeper Joseph Ansong had failed to make a first time save of a
free kick.
Six minutes later,
Yusif Ahmed, another substitute increased the score line after dribbling
through the Yeji defence with ease. Yeji had a consolation goal in the 90th
minutes through Dramani Haminu who had an impressive afternoon.
GRi…/
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Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 24 April 2003 - The Interim Management Committee (IMC) of Kumasi Asante
Kotoko Football Club has appealed to individuals and groups who have not been
authorised to sell the club's souvenirs to put a stop to it immediately.
In a statement signed
by the Public Relations Officer of the club, Kwabena Sarpong Akosah in Kumasi
on Wednesday, the management said a task force would soon be set up to arrest all
unauthorised persons who sold the souvenirs of the club. It said the persons
engaged in the sale of souvenirs such as calendars, cups, T-shirts, mufflers
and others, did not have the approval of the management.
The statement said
the management was planning its own merchandising programme and appealed to the
supporters and sympathisers of the club to support the programme when it took
off.
GRi…/
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Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 24 April 2003 - Former international and Asante Kotoko star, Opoku
Afriyie, has described as "pure lies" the news making rounds that he
has been appointed the new Team Manager of Kumasi Asante Kotoko. "No
Kotoko official has approached me nor had I approached anybody with the idea of
making me the Team Manager of the club", he declared.
Speaking to the GNA
Sports in Kumasi on Wednesday in reaction to the report, "Bayie" as
he was popularly known in his playing days, said the publication, which was
carried in 'Soccer Express', recently should be treated as total fabrication
without an iota of truth.
However, he said that
he would not frown at the opportunity of being appointed as the team manager, as
that would give him the chance to serve his former club. Opoku Afriyie stressed
that as a responsible and respected man, such publications sought sow seed of
disunity among the old players and Kotoko.
He was not happy that
he was not contacted before the publication came out and noted that he would
not take kindly to such reports, as it might appear he was forcing himself on
the club. "I have a lot of respect for Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Life Patron
and owner of Kotoko and the entire team and therefore would not attempt to do
anything that would sour my relationship with the team", he added.
GRi…/
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