The
This
relieving news was contained in a New Year message by skipper Appiah to
Ghanaians. Though he conceded the fact that the task to lead the Stars back to
the top was quite Herculean, he expressed his commitment to perform his role
diligently and efficiently with the support of his colleagues to realise that
dream. “It is our determination to be the best or with the best,” he
emphasised.
He
explained that football, being the passion of the nation, puts a lot of
pressure and stress on the team to excel always. Appiah whose appointment took
effect last year during the short stint of the runaway Yugoslav coach, Milan Zivadinovic, in a typical new year
resolution style on behalf of his team mates apologised to Ghanaians to let go
any offence by any member of the team in the course of performing their
national duties.
Turning
rather philosophical, he said, “they that tread the path of labour follow where
my feet had tread. They who work without complaining do the only will of God.”
He
called on sports personalities who have the game at heart such as Edward
Acquah, Awuley Quaye, Mohammed Polo, Rev Osei Kofi, Anas Seidu, Oti
Akenten, Jones Attuquayefio and C.K. Gyamfi, among others, who have the technical know-how to
come together to assist in bringing Ghana football back to the limelight.
Meanwhile,
the Stars are scheduled to play their Beninoise
counterparts in an international friendly at the Kumasi Stadium on Sunday. The
match will be a run-up for the Stars towards their return friendly against the
Super Eagles of Nigeria in
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Opoku-Agyemang Prempeh, Managing
Director of Lakayana Company, an Engineering and
Construction Consortium, explained that changing of coaches or replacement of
the Minister was therefore not the solution to the woes of the national teams.
Prempeh was addressing a meeting
of "Disciplinary Clubs", formed under the auspices of the Centre for
Moral Education (CEMED) in
Prempeh traced the indiscipline
that has engulfed the national football teams to division amongst the players,
arrogance and struggle for superiority and recognition amongst the playing
body.
Apart from player-indiscipline,
the inability of the authorities to sufficiently motivate the players was also
a contributory factor to the downward trend of our soccer, he added.
To address the problems, Prempeh
strongly suggested the evolvement of measures
which would visit punitive sanctions
on any player found to have misconducted himself. He
also appealed to co-operate bodies to begin to invest more in soccer by taking
up the role of sponsors and also providing the requisite logistics to the
national soccer teams.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 January
2003 - Frenchman Legueric Bruno was a hero at the Mataheko cycling race course last Sunday when he outpaced
over 15 Ghanaian cyclists and five fellow Europeans to emerge champion of the
Euro-African Grand Prix International Cycling Competition.
Bruno whose name was on the lips
of every cycling fan at Mataheko showed traces of his
desire to win the ultimate by intentionally retiring from the European and
general elimination races to store enough energy for the champion of champions.
He completed the criterion race of 15 rounds making a total of 30 kilometres,
clocking 25:57:32 seconds to win the race.
Bruno started picking up his position
in the last four rounds of the criterion when he was among the first four
leading cyclists in the race and managed to beat his fellow Europeans to take a
lead in the last two rounds and eventually became the winner.
The Europeans dominated the
criterion race as Duclos Sebastien
of Spain came second in 25:57:51seconds while another French man, Barbara Seigei, settled for the third place in 25:58:68 seconds.
In other races, Bruno again won
the Speed by elimination race, beating
In the European elimination
race, Fraboulet Thomas of
Trophies were presented to all
the five cyclists who won the various events at the end of the event. The
one-day yearly Euro-Africa Grand Prix is organised by SPORPUB International to
some selected African countries to tap the talents from the Europeans to enrich
that of the Africans.
This year's programme
kick-started from
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Ralph Adjei, a Patron of the Ahooden Keepfit Club at Madina,
made the call at the inauguration of the club at Legon near
Francis Opoku,
chairman of the club said the club would undertake a two-week training tour of
some West African countries in February, this year as part of their programmes
to keep their members fit.
He called on the members to
avoid indiscriminate sex, drug abuse and other form of social vices and to live
above reproach. A 16-member executive was sworn into office.
GRi…/
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