Black Stars fail to make African team
Athletic association extends scholarship for two
Bamako (Mali) 12 February 2002 - The declining fortunes of Ghana football manifested in Bamako when no member of the Black Stars got a place in the African team that was selected based on individual performance at CAN 2002.
The 18-man squad was picked by the Technical Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and released as the "Best Players of the Tournament." Ironically, Nigeria, which has come under a lot of criticism from their media for lack of commitment and direction topped the list with three players in the first eleven.
Julius Aghahowa, scorer of three championship goals, who plays his club football at Shaktar in Ukraine is among the marksmen, while Taribo West of Bundisliga side, Kaiserslautern and Ifeanyi Udeze of Paok in Greece were selected for the central defence and the left wing back positions respectively.
Silver medallists, Senegal and champions, Cameroon followed with two players each in the first eleven. Senegalese goalkeeper Mario Sylva of Monaco of France was adjudged the best goalkeeper on the continent, while El Hadj Diof who plies his trade with Lens, also in France, won the left wing position.
Patrick Mboma of Parma of Italy, who had three goals in Mali and skipper Rigobert Song of FC Colonge in Germany are the Cameroonian representation on the first team, Mboma as the central striker and Song as the left side central defender.
South Africa's Zuma Sibusiso, right wing back for FC Copenhagen in Denmark won the position in the African selection. The midfield positions were occupied by Egypt's captain, Hany Ramzy of Kaiserslautern in the centre, Salif Rafik of Algeria and Troyes of France on the left and Malian cult name, Seydou Keita of Lorient in France on the right.
Alioum Bouker the Cameroonian goalkeeper who is on contract with Samsungspor in Turkey is the reserve to goalkeeper Mario of Senegal and his countryman, Geremi Ngitap of Real Madrid got selected into the reserves too. Though Tunisia crashed out of the tournament at the preliminary stage, Jaidi Radhi of Esperance was picked among the defenders alongside Senegal' Alassani Diao who plays his professional football with Sedan in France.
Egypt's Emam Hazem of Zamalek , Malian Toure Bassala of Athinaikos of Greece and Abdul Kader Keita of Cote D' Ivoire and Esperance of Tunisia complete the list.
Several Ghanaian players had made the list in previous tournaments. Ibrahim Sunday, Kwesi Owusu, Malik Jaber, Abdul Razak, Adolf Armah and the late Robert Mensah have all made the team during their time. Abedi Pele, Frank Amankwa, Samuel Osei Kuffour and Charles Akunor have also had their time in the African best team.
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Accra (Greater Accra), 12 February 2002 – Middlesbrough of England Manager, Steve McClaren, is reportedly close to a deal to bring Panathinaikos striker Derek Owusu Boateng to Middlesbrough for £6m. Sports bi-weekly, Graphic Sports, Boateng’s abilities have been likened to former Manchester United star Eric Cantona and Middlesbrough are prepared to pay a fee that has scared off clubs from Italy and Spain.
The 18-year-old Ghanaian came to McClaren’s attention when
he played for the Greek side against Manchester United in the Champions League.
Talks between the club and the player’s agent have taken place and a deal
should ease Middlesbrough’s recent troubles in the transfer market, according
to The Independent newspaper.
Baro failed to lure Dwight Yorke to The Riverside and lost out to Manchester
United in the race to sign striker Diego Forlan.
Boateng, who was in the young Black Stars squad to the just ended Nations Cup in Mali, is also regarded as one of the most promising young players in the world and is expected to arrive at the England club this week for personal talks and a medical.- Graphic Sports.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 12 February 2002 - The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) through the Olympics solidarity have decided to extend their scholarship to two Ghanaian athletes, Margaret Simpson and Vida Anim to high level training centres in Mauritius and Dakar respectively.
A statement signed by Mr Albert Tettey, Secretary General of the GOC said the scholarships would continue till July 31, 2002. He said upon completion of the present programme the athletes would then be transferred onto another scholarship programmes, starting on August 1, 2002 for adequate preparation before the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Mr Tettey said his outfit would continue monitoring the performance of the athletes and encourage them to work hard to achieve excellence in their field of endeavour.
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