Queens hopeful of reaching the
final
Alberta
Sackey leads goal chart
Hayatou
due in Nigeria for Women’s finals
Stars succumb to Eagles in Accra
Coach Afranie chastises Hearts
players
Mine Stars
beat Hasaacas in a friendly
New boxing
ring outdoors at Teshie
Tribute to the late K.T.
Glover
Queens
hopeful of reaching the final
Warri (Greater Accra)
16 December 2002 - The Women soccer team, the Black Queens, come up against
their Cameroonian counterparts on Tuesday in a stiff semi-final duel which also
doubles as a qualifier for the Women World Cup in China next year.
The winner of the
Championship and the runner up represent the continent at the fiesta, which the
Queens have vowed to be one of the representatives. "As far as we are
concerned, the battle has just begun. When we were coming to Nigeria, we told
God we would play in five matches and asked for his mercy to win all. We have
won three, the two will follow as a matter of course", said coach Oko
Aryee as he prepares his ladies to battle on Tuesday.
The match scheduled to
kick start at 14.30 GMT at Warri City Stadium is expected to draw a very large
crowd against the backdrop that the Queens are the only side to have reached
this stage without conceding a goal.
The second semi-final
match between host Super Falcons and South Africa would be honoured on
Wednesday at Oghara. Bookmakers have tipped Ghana and Nigeria to qualify for
the finals and probably re-ignite what transpired at the group stages.
The Indomitable
Lioness who are well built just like their men, rely mainly on their physic
than flair and it is not surprising that all the teams they have clash with are
complaining.
Sequel to this, coach
Aryee's is working on the physic of the girls to be able to match the Lioness.
"My girls have an advantage of enduring to the end and on a good day, we
should be able to scale over them", the affable coach told the GNA Sports
in Warri.
The moral in camp is
high and the Queens are determined to become the first Ghanaian squad to win
the trophy. This ambition has galvanised the ladies to step up their training
regimen. Number goalkeeper Sulemanu is yet to recover fully from the several
knocks she took during their match against the Falcons. She expressed the hope
to make the starting line up on Tuesday.
Defender Elisabeth
Baidu who missed last Tuesday's game against Ethiopia for receiving two yellow
cards would be available to feature for the Queens. Her presence is no doubt
going to make the Ghanaian defence watertight.
Meanwhile, the
Ghanaian community in Warri visited the Queens at their Casa De Pedro Hotel on
Sunday with some Ghanaian dishes including Waakye and Kenkye to make the ladies
feel at home. The association headed by Joe Sacketey, have promised the Queens
to throng the stadium to cheer them to victory.
GRi…/
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Alberta
Sackey leads goal chart
Oghara (Greater
Accra) 16 December 2002 - The skipper of the Black Queens, Alberta Sackey's two
goals against their Ethiopians counterparts in Friday's final group A match has
catapulted her to the top of the goal scoring chart at the on-going African
Women Championship with four goals.
The skipper, who
scored a goal each in Ghana's first two matches against Mali and Nigeria
respectively is being closely followed in second place by Super Falcons leading
attacker Mercy Akide, the reigning goalking from the last tournament held in
South Africa in 2000 with three.
Sackey would have
opened a much bigger gap on the chart if she had been lucky in their match
against their Ethiopian counterparts where wasted some few chances. When asked
in a post-match interview with the GNA Sports whether winning the goalking race
was part of her ambitions, Sackey said, " It is not a priority. "My
dream every time I enter the pitch is to put the nation first; if the goals
come and we win, I am happy with that" she added.
Ghana is currently
the only team to have finished the first phase of the competition with a 100
per cent record, having won all their three matches without conceding a goal.
The Queens would meet the winner of Angola and Cameroon encounter in the
semi-finals.
GRi…/
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Hayatou
due in Nigeria for Women’s finals
Oghara (Nigeria) 16
December 2002 - Issah Hayatou, President of the Confederation of African
Football (CAF) would arrive in Nigeria on Wednesday 19 December ahead of the
grand finale of the African Women Championship (AWC) scheduled for next Friday.
The CAF boss has been
absent since the commencement of the tournament a week ago due to other
engagements elsewhere on the continent.
GRi…/
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Stars
succumb to Eagles in Accra
Accra (Greater Accra)
16 December 2002 - Caretaker coach Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie gave Ghanaians a bad
Christmas present as the Black Stars succumbed to a 0-1 lost to a locally
assembled Nigerian side at the Accra Sports in Accra on Sunday.
Disappointed fans
could not help but to boo at both Afranie and his boys who performed woefully
and lacked the "killer punch" upfront. The match was the first of two
friendly matches lined up for the two sides before their next Cup of nations
qualifiers next January.
The Stars who played
with two foreign-based players - Razak Pimpong of Denmark and Prince Amoako of
Russia gave the Ghanaian fans a high hope from kick off but apparently were
frustrated after defender Daniel Yeboah scored and own goal in the 12th
minute.
Accra-based referee
Joseph Willington also added to the woes of the young Ghanaian players when he
ignored two clear penalties - one in the 10th minutes and the other
in the early stages of the second half.
Influential player,
John Paintsil who was a torn in the flesh of the Nigerians wasted a 17th
minute chance when his diving header flew off target and 21 minutes later, shot
over the cross bar from close range. Prince Amoako, broke "the camel's
back" when he wasted a 78th minute penalty for the Stars.
Line up:
Abubakari Kantani,
Aziz Ansaha, Emmanuel Pappoe, Daniel Yeboah, Joe
Hendricks, Hamza
Mohammed, John Pentsil, Michael Asante, Zazak
Pimpong/Angelo Dedon,
Isaac Boakye, Prince Amoako.
GRi…/
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Coach
Afranie chastises Hearts players
Accra (Greater Accra)
16 December 2002 - Caretaker coach Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie, has condemned the
attitude of six players of Accra Hearts of Oak for deserting the Black Stars
when their services were most needed.
He told the GNA Sports
in Accra that apart from Charles Taylor and Bernard Don Bortey who were out of
the country looking for clubs and defender Kwabena Boafo who spent some two
weeks with the team, the other three- Wisdom Abbey, Dan Oppong, and number one
goalkeeper Sammy Adjei decided not to join their colleagues ahead of the
Ghana-Nigeria match.
The Stars lost the
Sunday's encounter by a lone goal vie an own goal in the 12 minutes by defender
Daniel Yeboah. The Coach blamed the defeat on the absence of the players and
the refusal of referee by Joseph Willington to award two penalties to the
Stars.
The referee ignored
two first half spot kicks which Afranie believes could have changed the pattern
of the game and made victory certain for the Stars. Referee Willington however,
gave a late penalty to the Stars, which was wasted by Prince Amoako, one of the
two professionals who featured for Ghana on Sunday.
In spite of the loss,
Afranie praised his boys for the good show and said but for ill luck, they
would have carried the day. As part of building a solid local base, the Black
Stars trek to Egypt for another international friendly with the Pharaohs this
Sunday and against Togo six days later.
According to the
coach's programme, the Stars would break camp after the Togo encounter and
reassembled for yet another friendly with the Super Eagles in Lagos, early
January.
GRi…/
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Mine
Stars beat Hasaacas in a friendly
Tarkwa (Western
Region) 16 December 2002 - Prestea Mine Stars on Sunday beat Sekondi Hasaacas one-nil
in special football match to mark the end of the three day activities to
introduce the new Omanhene of Wassa Fiase Traditional area, Osagyefo Kwamina
Enimil VI in the Western Region.
Mine Stars' goal came
at the 25th minute through Moro Alhassan wearing the number six
jersey when he beat the defenders of visiting Hasaacas around the 18-yard box
to score. Mine Stars played with 10 men in most part of the game when one of
their players was sent off just before half time.
On resumption, the
match became a ding-dong battle but the visitors' efforts yielded no dividend.
Osagyefo Enimil later presented the magnificent throphy known as the Osagyefo
Enimil's cup and an amount of 500,000 cedis to Mine Stars. Hasaacas also
received 300,000 cedis prize.
Osagyefo Enimil
commended both teams and officials and urged them to play hard so that both
teams would go ahead in the premier league.
GRi…/
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New
boxing ring outdoors at Teshie
Accra (Greater Accra)
16 December 2002 - Eddie Akita, Deputy Minister of Defence and
Member of Parliament
for Ledzokuku has outdoor a new boxing ring which he said would rival Bukom in
the production of world class boxers at a ceremony at Teshie, Accra.
"I declare open,
this boxing ring to serve as a symbol of many good things to happen in the
Teshie community", the MP said over the weekend, and charged the Teshie
Sports Development Council to live up to expectation by producing a world
champion within three years.
Earlier, Joe Aggrey,
Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports urged the new club to end the dominance of
Bukom in the production of world-class boxers through hard work and dedication.
"Inspite of financial constraints, my ministry would assist this club to
achieve its goals, if you are prepared to put in more efforts", he implored.
He bemoans the lost
glories of Ghana in the fistic sport and urged the club to put an end to the
draught.
Eddie Duplan,
Chairman of the Ghana Amateur Boxing Association used the occasion to announce
that all amateur boxers are to have identity cards to enable the association
know the number of boxers under its charge to allow for good planning. The
project, he said, would cover the entire country with Greater Accra serving as
a starting base.
Seth Osabu Sowah,
Chairman of Teshie Sports Development Council, called for support from all, so
that retired sportsmen and women would benefit and be recognised at the end of
their careers. 10m cedis was realised from an appeal for funds of which Nii Quaye
Mensah, Chairman of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA), gave 5m cedis.
A ten-member
executive board to manage the club was later appointed. A number of exhibitions
bouts were held among boxing clubs from Accra, Tema and Ashaiman.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra)
16 December 2002 - A new tennis academy has been established in the country to
develop the sport. The academy, an offshoot of Woke International Tennis
Academy (WITA) based in the United Kingdom for the past ten years, is
temporarily located at the La Beach Hotel.
Ekow Manly-Spain,
Director of the Academy told the Ghana News Agency Sports that his academy
seeks to reverse the neglect given to tennis, enhance the standard of play and
"fast-track talent identification for international achievement".
He said, "WITA
will like to offer our services to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and we call
for co-operation from the Ghana Tennis Association to partner us raise the
game".
For a start,
representatives would soon meet the Minister of Youth and Sports, Edward Osei
Kwaku to discuss areas of its development plan including holding "coaches
education day" for coaches and a clinic for tennis players from ages four
to seniors.
Other areas WITA
would like to tackle are equipment, infrastructure and marketing of Ghana
tennis, Mr Manly-Spain stated.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra)
16 December 2002 - On November 28th, the last surviving founding father, of
Accra Great Olympics, K.T. Glover passed away at the ripe age of 87.
By this incident, the
club is poorer. But we are convinced that his indomitable spirit and
commitment, like those of the previous founding fathers who went ahead of him,
still remain with and guides the club.
K.T. as he was
popularly called, was soft-spoken, affable and a disciplinarian. He, above all,
was a pillar of strength and exudes such confidence that even though he
preferred to work more behind the scenes, he coined the popular Olympics phrase
"Now Is The Hour" which horrified opponents.
Even though in his
last years, his eyes started jailing him very fast he nevertheless endeavoured
always to attend particularly the emergency meetings of the Council of Patrons
of Olympics to counsel and offer invaluable pieces of advise.
As an ex-soldier, K.T.
always insisted on punctuality, discipline and non-compromise on fair play in
the game of football, which he loved extremely.
The Council of Patrons
focus the Board, of Directors, the Executives, playing body, the Old Players
Association and, the teeming, supporters of Accra Great Olympics, to express
our deepest condolences to the bereaved family. May His Soul Rest In Peace. - By the Council of Patrons of Accra Great
Olympics
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