GRi Sports 24 - 03 - 2003
Kotoko lift LG Top Four Cup
Olympics fail to salvage image
Ghanaian referee to officiate in the US
Charles Taylor denies training with Kotoko
Bofoakwa players not on transfer’
Kotoko lift LG Top Four Cup
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 March 2003 -
Kumasi Asante Kotoko were crowned champions of the LG Top Four tournament after
holding Accra Hearts of Oak to a scoreless draw in their return fixture at the
Accra stadium on Sunday. The match was for academic purposes as Kotoko ended
the month-long contest four clear points ahead of Hearts.
Ahead of the game, Hearts had vowed to avenge the 0-2 loss they suffered in Kumasi, but they looked goal-shy as their strikers blew away some glorious chances that could have changed the complexion of the game. The biggest culprit was Emmanuel Osei Kuffour who missed an open chance in the Kotoko penalty box in the 69th minute.
With very little at stake, the match did not witness the anticipated sell-out crowd. However, it had all other ingredients of a typical Hearts-Kotoko affair. Prior to the match the atmosphere had been filled with rumours of Kotoko kidnapping Hearts’ star Charles Taylor, and this further deepened the tension in the match.
There were pockets of trouble in sections of the stands as rival fans pelted each other with missiles and on the field, the game sometimes looked more of a martial arts contest than the ‘beautiful game’ being expressed by the nation’s top clubs.
The physical nature of the game reached its sour point when Hearts’ midfielder Charles Allotey was given the marching off order for a second bookable offence, when he fouled Kotoko’s Stephen Oduro on the stroke of half time.
Perhaps Allotey had a premonition that he would see red as he played in a pair of red boots. He contributed much to the roughness of the game. His tackles were reckless and was lucky to have stayed for 45 minutes.
If the first half looked more of a rough-house game, the second half was unexciting except for some deft touches by Oduro and Kuffour, and some goalmouth action at both ends of the field that brought life into the contest.
It was only after Allotey’s dismissal that some level of sanity was restored in the game. Unlike the Kumasi encounter, Hearts had the lion’s share of clear-cut chances yesterday. Strikers Wisdom Abbey and Bernard Dong-Bortey, spotting a clean-shaved head, were unimpressive and less threatening. Kuffour enjoyed a lot of possession but lost his scoring touch.
In defence, goalkeeper Sammy Adjei and centre-back Emmanuel Osei were in total control of the game and did not allow Kotoko’s strikers Isaac Boakye and Shilla Alhassan room to operate effectively. Osei was rock-solid and put up a man-of the-match performance.
Adjei was very alert in posts to prevent Boakye and team-mates from capitalising on some early chances and as the match wore on, the tide turned in Hearts’ favour. Kuffour missed a 32nd minute chance and three minutes later Emmanuel Osei nearly rifled home a 22-metre free kick.
Hearts still looked dangerous and nearly hit the back of the net in the 37th minute from a three-man move between Dong -Bortey, Kuffour and Lawrence Adjah-Tetteh. The second half was virtually uneventful until the latter minutes of the game when both sides began pressing hard for a goal.
The best chance fell to Kuffour but with only goalkeeper Louis Quainoo to beat, the striker surprisingly shot wide. Kotoko then turned the heat on their opponents late into the game but their desperate shots could not find the right angle to beat Adjei.
Boakye who scored a spectacular goal against Hearts in the first leg in Kumasi, nearly connected home a Yusif Chibsah pass after the Hearts goalie left his mark late, but the striker’s 88th minute shot narrowly missed target.
However at the end of the day it was the Kotoko players, officials and supporters who sang the championship mantra when captain Joseph Hendricks was handed the glittering LG trophy for a wonderful month-long performance.
Hearts: Sammy Adjei, Dan Quaye, Amankwa Mireku, Dan Oppong Emmanuel Osei, Adjah Tetteh, Charles Allotey , Joe Ansah, Wisdom Abbey, Emmanuel Kuffour, Don Bortey/Turkson
Kotoko: Louis Quainoo, Aziz Ansah, Godfred Yeboah, Dan Acquah, Joe Hendricks, Michael Asante, Stephen Oduro, Yussif Chipsah, Edmond Owusu Ansah/Anars Mohammed, Isaac Boakye, Shilla Alhassan/Frank Osei
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Olympics fail to salvage image
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 March 2003 - Whipping boys Great Olympis, failed to salvage their image as they lost by a lone goal to Liberty Professionals in their final match of the LG Top Four Tournament played at the Accra Sports Stadium last Saturday.
It was a sad day for the followers of the Olympics most of whom have taken advantage of the “free gate,” thronged the stadium to cheer their beloved club. The team played of the most beautiful footballs in the month-long tournament but found goal scoring a hard nut to crack.
The only two goals they scored in the tournament were all against Asante Kotoko but unfortunately lost in those two games, the first 1-3 in Kumasi and the second 1-2 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Olympics finished last on the standings with no point with a goal difference of minus 11 while Liberty made a great second round comeback to collect nine points, placing third behind Hearts of Oak who as at Saturday were also on nine points but with a superior goal difference.
Liberty’s right wingback Sammy Addo who became the surprised winner of the best player award on Saturday, fetched the Dansoman team’s only goal three minutes before recess, in a game that Olympics dominated.
Ablade Morgan hit the side net for Liberty in the 20th minute after William Tiero’s surging runs while Oly’s John Cudjoe’s pile driver a minute later were the most exciting attempts at goal in the first half.
Addo popped up in the 42nd minute to deliver a left-footed volley, which went through the hands of goalkeeper Theophilus Mensah for the lone goal. John Cudjoe brought the virtually empty stadium alive in the second half firing some characteristic desperate shots within a spate of seven minutes.
He fired a close range in the 54th minute, stretched goalkeeper Cudjoe Addo to his limit with a thunderbolt in the 72nd minute and a minute later, had his “bullet” pushed to corner. Two minutes later after the attack, Oly were unlucky not to have gotten the needed equaliser when a series of shots were cleared on the goal line by the Liberty defenders.
Seventeen year-old Asamoah Gyan, who was promoted early this year to the Liberty senior team and who was joint top goal scorer in the tournament, failed to increase his tally when after capitalising on a miss-kick by goalkeeper Mensah, shot off target in the 87th minute.
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Ghanaian referee to officiate in the US
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 March 2003 - Sports Writers Association (SWAG) referee of the year, Joseph Wellington has been invited by United States Soccer Federation as the only African referee to officiate in this year's 24th Dallas Cup.
A fax message signed by Daniel T. Flynn, Executive Director of the Dallas Cup Incorporation to the referee in Accra and copied to the GNA Sports said "the federation would like to extend a formal invitation to referee Wellington to participate in this outstanding event".
The 10-day event kick starts on April 23 this year. The annual event traditionally attracts referees from many countries around the globe including Africa.
Asked about the criteria for selection, the Ghanaian referee told the GNA Sports that the organisers have independent observers around the globe who pick such referees using the Confederation of African Football (CAF) or FIFA organised competitions.
Wellington was said to have preformed creditably well in Mali barely a month ago when he refereed in an African under-17 qualifier. He was reported to have been hit by malaria moments before the match but never showed signs of fatigue throughout the game. Wellington assured SWAG that he would do his best to proof that being named as Ghana's referee of the year was not a fluke.
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Charles Taylor denies training with Kotoko
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 March 2003 -
Charles Taylor, the player in the centre of
controversy between Accra Hearts of
Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, has denied media reports that he trained with the
Asante Kotoko on Friday.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that he was dismayed at the report by an Accra radio station adding, “I have no idea where that story might have come from, since I’m presently in Accra.”
The ‘dribbling wizard’ explained that after the Hearts-Kotoko game in Kumasi some two weeks ago, which the Phobians bowed 0-2, “I have not made any trip to the Garden City, Kumasi. This is news to me and I’m highly disappointed at such lies from that station,” the SWAG Footballer of the Year told the GNA Sports.
He appealed to the media to be circumspect in handling such “volatile” issues likely to worsen the already unhealthy rivalry between Hearts and Kotoko. The striker was however, evasive on his move to Kotoko.
GRi…/
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Bofoakwa players not on transfer’
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region) 24 March 2003 - The management of Bofoakwa Tano FC has denied reports that 11 top players of the club have been put on the transfer list.
The affected players are Nana Gyamfi (Zico), Pasco Amponsah, Atta Fuseini, Emmanuel Kyeremeh, Emmanuel Ampiah and Owusu Sarpong. The rest are Baffour Gyimah, Seini Mohammed, Baba Sulley, Tahiru Ali and Kwaku Duah.
In a statement signed by the Executive Chairman of Bofoakwa, Mr Joseph Adjin Lartey and issued to the press on Friday, he said those players are still the bonafide property of the club, stressing that the false publication is the figment of the imagination of the reporter.
He therefore, called on the players to resume training immediately without hesitation. According to Lartey, the publication was misleading as currently Bofoakwa has more than seven committees and not seven as mentioned in the report. He said the decision was taken to ensure the smooth running of the club and proper accountability.
Lartey stated that currently the management is making strenuous efforts to recruit a substantive coach for the club. He made a passionate appeal to all the supporters of the club to be resolute in their dealings with the new management.
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