Soccer-Strong South Africans expected to challenge for title
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 January 2002 - Construction work will begin on the 21st of this month on the cordoned off North Stand, the scene of the May 9, 2001 tragedy at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Stand which is popularly known as the "Ade Coker Stand" and used to house vociferous fans, has been "a no go area" since that ''Black Wednesday".
Speaking to the GNA Sports, Dr Emmanuel Owusu-Ansah, Acting Chief Executive of the National Sports Council (NSC), said work on the project could be completed in three months time to make way for the Champion of Champions super match between Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak.
He, however, said the contract has not been awarded to any contractor yet and that they were waiting for the Regional Tender Board to award the contract to competent contractors for work to commence.
Asked about the project estimate, Dr Owusu-Ansah said they were waiting for the contractors submit their estimates. He said Akuffo and Associates, an architectural Firm in Accra has come out with a design for the project and he was optimistic that there was not going to be any future re-occurrence of the tragedy.
Dr Owusu-Ansah said, for instance, that all spaces beside all the six stairways would be sealed to broadened the stairways to make easy movement.
On the Commission of Enquiry's recommendation for a monument to be erected in remembrance of the fallen victims, he said the Parks and Gardens have already started work on the site where the monument would be erected.
The monument, which would be in bronze would be erected in front of the Stadium Clinic. The designs have been given to the Arts Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Technology (KNUST) and the Art Department of Winneba. One of the designs would be chosen.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 January 2002 - Ghana's budding striker, Issa Mohammed who unfortunately failed to make the 22-man squad for Mali 2002, is scheduled to join Lorrpking, a topflight first division team in Sweden, for a two-week trials.
The 21-year-old player who was part of the predominantly local squad, which qualified the nation to the 23rd Africa Nations Cup, told the GNA Sports in Accra on Tuesday that he would leave the shores of the country by next week.
The Hasaacas top marksman who finished fourth on the Star Premier League goal-king chart with 10 goals, expressed optimism of making the grade this time around after a string of unsuccessful trials with several European teams.
Issa Mohammed, a key player of the 1999 under-21 squad that won gold for Ghana in the Africa Youth Championship held in Accra in March the same year, was however evasive on which local club he intends to feature for should the trials fail.
"I may or may not play for Hasaacas in the next soccer season, but at the moment I want to concentrate on my trip", Issa Mohammed told the GNA adding that the success of the trip would depend on his performance.
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Lagos (Nigeria) 15 January 2002 - Nigeria's coach Shaibu Amodu is a veteran of the job having handled the Super Eagles on five separate occasions.
But he needs to ensure success in Mali this month in order to keep his fifth spell as coach alive for a while longer. The Nigerian-born coach has been told he will be replaced for this summer's World Cup finals by a high profile coach if Nigeria are not successful in the African Nations Cup finals.
Amodu has served as coach or acting coach at various times since 1994, when his first match in charge was against England in a friendly at Wembley.
It was at provincial club side BCC Lions that he first came to prominence, taking them to the Nigerian FA Cup in 1989 and then the African Cup Winners' Cup title a year later.
The team were also Nigerian champions in 1994 before Amodu went off to handle the national team, first on his own and then as assistant to the likes of Jo Bonfrere, Thijs Libregts, Philippe Troussier and Bora Milutinovic.
He also had a brief spell as coach of South Africa's Orlando Pirates and says he wants to return to club soccer at the end of the World Cup finals.
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Lagos (Nigeria) 15 January 2002 - Austin "Jay Jay" Okocha has tasted both the sweet taste of Nations Cup success and bitter disappointment in his two previous appearances at the African championships.
Nigeria's star midfielder, who is a reluctant participant in this year's tournament in Mali, burst onto the African stage with his performances for the Super Eagles when they won the Nations Cup in Tunisia in 1994.
Okocha, along with team mates Sunday Oliseh, Victor Ikpeba and Finidi George, heralded the arrival of a new generation of Nigerian stars, who have since proven the backbone of a Super Eagles side which has qualified for three successive World Cup finals.
But Okocha was on the losing end in the Nations Cup two years ago when Nigeria hosted the tournament, and were beaten after a dramatic post-match penalty shootout by Cameroon.
The 28-year-old Okocha, who hails from Enugu, plays at Paris St Germain, who bought him from Turkey's Fenerbahce after the last World Cup finals.
The 25.0 million pounds ($36.22 million) deal was a record involving an African player. Okocha started his career at Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, where he had initially gone for a holiday but ended up being persuaded to try out for an amateur team and was signed on the spot.
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Algiers (Algeria) 15 January 2002 - Abdelhafid Tasfaout competes in what is likely to be his final Nations Cup tournament hoping to improve on the disappointment of previous showings at the bi-annual continental championship.
At 32, the Algerian striker is nearing the end of his international career but is still the key element in his team's attack. A consistent goal scorer for his country, Tasfaout was a substitute when Algeria crashed out of the 1992 finals and then missed the next two Nations Cups. Algeria were suspended from the 1994 tournament and he was injured in 1996.
His re-appearances in 1998 and 2000 have proven disappointing with Algeria failing to go further than the last eight. Tasfaout, who hails from Oran, has been playing club football in France for the last six years, first with Auxerre and since the 1997-98 season at Guingamp.
His international career started a little e too late for him to share in Algeria's glory years of more than a decade ago but he has gone onto become one of the country's most capped internationals and the captain of the team.
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Lagos (Nigeria) 15 January 2002 - Nigeria are strong contenders to win the 2002 African Nations Cup despite a rocky start on the road to the tournament. But there was a danger their hopes could be hit by a dispute with Europe's top clubs over the release of some of their star players for the tournament.
Only eight players had reported at the start of training camp and coach Shaibu Amodu said he would submit his team list only after the deadline. Temperamental players refused to play a friendly against Egypt because they had not been paid bonuses promised to them for qualifying for the World Cup.
Egypt demanded Nigeria pay $15,000 to cover the costs of cancelling the day of the match. Poor preparation is a major concern. St Germain midfielder
Austin "Jay Jay" Okacha said the decision not to play Egypt was a wise one because the team was "not fully fit yet".
The Super Eagles have won the tournament twice before in 1980 and 1994 and narrowly lost the last Nations Cup on penalties to Cameroon in 2000. Amodu has the most at stake in the tournament. A poor showing at Mali could end his eight-month-old spell as coach and open the door for a replacement to take over for the World Cup finals in which Nigeria are grouped with Argentina, England and Sweden.
But the players, most of whom play in Europe, are confident that the Super Eagles will deliver in Mali, although some of their players like first choice goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu and Victor Ikpeba who have largely been on the sub's bench for most of the season could be lacking match fitness.
Amodu though says he is not too concerned by that as his players are fit and should be able to hold their own in the competition. But many say the team, although made up largely of the same old reliables, today's Super Eagles squad lacks the heart and determination of the 1994 squad.
At the close of the training camp on Sunday, all but a few of the invited players had reported. Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu and Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro were both involved in English premier league matches at the weekend, before going to Mali late.
Nigeria is grouped with hosts Mali, Algeria and Liberia in the opening round and is expected to finish top of that quartet. Players to watch include Nations Cup veterans Okocha and Finidi George, as well as Nwankwo Kanu, Julius Aghahowa and newcomer Victor Agali.
George made his Nations cup debut in Senegal in 1992 and played in the 1994 edition in Tunisia, as well as the 2000 edition.
Okocha played his first Nations cup competition in 1994 and also featured in the 2000 edition. Kanu made his debut in 2000, while Agali is playing his first Nations cup in Mali.
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Johannesburg (South Africa) 15 January 2002 - South Africa have finished first, second and third at the last three African Nations Cup finals and are hoping to get to at least the last four again.
Coach Carlos Queiroz has picked his strongest possible squad, albeit with much cajoling and threatening, and although he is reluctant to make any predictions, he has set a place in the semifinals as the team's goal for the upcoming finals in Mali.
Queiroz, who also qualified the South African side for the World Cup finals later this year, had first intended taking a second-string squad to the Nations Cup to prepare fringe players for possible World Cup selection later in the year and also rest key European-based players.
But he miscalculated the political fallout from the announcement of his plans and came under intense criticism for his decision, later back-tracking on the idea and picking a full-strength side for Mali.
But many of his key players, including captain Shaun Bartlett, were reluctant to join up with the squad because they claimed they had been promised they would be allowed to stay with their European-based clubs during the tournament and only called up for the World Cup in June.
Queiroz denied having made the promises and last week the South African Football Association sought FIFA's help in persuading Bartlett, Italian-based striker Siyabonga Nomvete and the giant goalkeeper Hans Vonk, from Dutch club SC Heerenveen, to belatedly travel to South Africa for the pre-tournament training camp.
The players finally agreed to go to Mali but Queiroz has been accused of "dragging reluctant stars" to the African Nations Cup finals by a critical local media.
The controversy has overshadowed preparations for the tournament and checked enthusiasm from supporters over the country's chances. But South Africa are still able to field a formidable team and have an experienced squad for the competition, including two players from the side that won the 1996 title.
The majority of the players are based in Europe, where the likes of Sibusiso Zuma and defender Jacob Lekgetho have played regularly in the European club competition over the last year. Zuma has emerged as the new star of South African football and makes his Nations Cup debut with a mass of expectation on his shoulders.
The FC Copenhagen winger leads the right hand flank of a swift South Africa attack but the team are even stronger on the left with the pace of German-based Delron Buckley and Manchester United's Quinton Fortune.
Bartlett, from English premier league club Charlton Athletic, will head the attack, having finished the last Nations Cup finals in Nigeria and Ghana two years ago as the tournament's leading goal scorer.
There are also high hopes for a return to form for Benni McCarthy, who was the joint top scorer in 1998 but whose career has been in the doldrums at Celta Vigo in Spain over the last 12 months.
His recent loan move to FC Porto in Portugal has seemingly revitalised his form and the 24-year-old has looked the best player in training ahead of the team's departure for Mali.
South Africa open their group B campaign against Burkina Faso and also face Ghana and Morocco in their opening round group matches in Segou. Bafana Bafana have an unbeaten record against all three countries.
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