Hearts silence B.A. United at Sunyani
King Faisal beat Liberty at Kumasi
Great challenges and expectations awaits Mr Zivadinovic
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2002 - League Champions Accra Hearts of Oak maintained their unbeaten record in this year's premier league when they added Brong-Ahafo United to their chain of victims in the eighth-week mid-week encounter at the Sunyani Coronation Park on Wednesday.
A goal in each half of the match, which was the top liner of the midweek's pairings, gave the Phobians a 2-0 victory over the national gala lords, B.A. United. The tension-packed match, which saw one of the heaviest attendances at the park in recent times had the home team exerting all their energy in the exchanges, but against the former African champions, they found things too hot to handle.
In the end it was experience that carried the day for Hearts. But if there was any player who did not find things easy throughout the 90-minute duration, it was Hearts' playmaker Charles Taylor. Taylor, who was the target of stern policing by his opponents up-front, on the few occasions that he was able to break away from his markers, disorganised the United’s defend with cheeky ease.
By 2 pm, the Coronation Park was filled to capacity and when Class One Referee Alhassan Brobbey of Mampong-Ashanti gave the nod for the match to begin, Hearts shocked the home team with a third minute goal. A pass from midfield found Charles Allotey, and without wasting time, the petit striker gave a long shot, of which goalkeeper Ransford Cudjoe had no remedy.
Sensing danger, the home team moved into attack but captain Charles Taylor and his boys would not give in. In the course of the exchanges, United's Charles Ampiah was shown the yellow card for rough play. Ishmael Fridos of United nearly levelled matters in the 12th minute but his shot narrowly missed the target.
That goal attempt gingered United up and they had the day's first cornerkick in the 13th minute but captain Alhaji Abass in an attempt to trap the ball handled it and wasted the opportunity. Striker Bernard Don Bortey registered his fourth goal in the league with an 89th minute strike, which brought the score line to 2-0 in favour of Hearts.
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Sekondi (Western Region) 23 May 2002 - Sekondi Hasaacas thrashed visiting Real Tamale United 3-0 in their eighth week Premier League match played at the Sekondi Gyandu Park on Wednesday.
Atta Yawson converted a controversial spot kick in the 63rd minute for the opener while Gariba Haruna made it two in the 82nd minute. Veteran striker John Ainoo completed the rout in the 86th minute with a perfect finish.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2002 - Kumasi Asante Kotoko strengthened their claim to the premiership title this year after eight years in limbo with an emphatic 3-0 thumping of Accra Great Olympics in their eighth week match played at the Accra Sports Stadium.
In a match, which was played under a difficult rainy and windy condition, it was the visitors who mastered the soggy terrain early and scored the first goal through a Steven Oduro free kick taken from the edge of the box in the fourth minute. Kotoko dominated the early exchanges in the pouring rain and came close again in the fifth minute through newly signed Frank Osei who found himself in a scoring position but the former King Faisal goal poacher blasted the ball wide.
Olympics resurrected from the early set back with short passes in the midfield but found it difficult entering the defensive third of Kotoko. Against the run of play, Kotoko doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Osei finished off a fast break from the right as he squeezed his shot under Theodore Atsu for the second goal.
The goal did not dampen the resolve of Olympics as they kept to their passing game with exciting young prospect Joe Tagoe feeding the attack, which was rather flat and easily checked by the Kotoko defence.
On resumption, Olympics continued from where they ended the first half and pumped the ball persistently into the half of Kotoko but again failed to threaten the rock solid Kotoko defence. Osei wiped off any hope of a come back by Olympics as he scored his second of the game and third for the Fabulous boys in the 57th minute when he drilled a long-range grounder which a fully stretched Atsu could not block. Osei's goal tally is now three from two matches.
From then on it was all Kotoko as they dominated from the midfield whiles Olympics appeared to have lost their competitive urge. But Kotoko could not translate their late dominance into a cricket score as they contended themselves with entertaining the crowd. Kotoko remain second on the standings with 19 points, five points behind defending champions, Accra Hearts of Oak.
GRi…/
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 23 May 2002 - Alhaji Grunsah's King Faisal beat Liberty Professionals 1-0 in their premier league match played at the Kumasi Sports Stadium. Mercurial striker Abubakar Yahuza scored the only goal in the 66th minute with a thunderbolt shot which beat agile goalkeeper Owusu Banahene.
The first half ended in a goalless draw with Liberty dominating the exchanges. Leading goal king Papa Arko nearly found the opener for Liberty in the 16th minute but goalkeeper Samuel Okyere in Faisal post saved his shot. In the 33rd minute however, goalkeeper Banahene failed to make a first time save of a freekick taken by Yahuza and was pushed to corner with the resultant kick wasted. Richard Adjei of Faisal was replaced with Abdul Samad in the 34th minute as Ishak Debrah of Faisal was shown the yellow card in the 42nd minute for dissent.
On resumption, Faisal took full control of the game and made series of raids but could not find the net. Liberty substituted Morgan Ablade for Papa Arko and Albert Neequaye for Quartey Jonathan when the going became tough in the 76th minute. When the Tamale-based referee Roger Osabu's whistled for the end of the game, it incurred the displeasure of the Liberty boys because one of their players was close to scoring.
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Berekum (Brong Ahafo Region) 23 May 2002 - Former Hearts of Oak player, George Eranio, made a great debut for Berekum Arsenals when he scored a goal while Eric Adu Poku added another to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory over Goldfields on Wednesday. Arsenal had to fight from a goal down in the 44th minute to clinch victory. Goldfields scored first when top striker, Frank Awuah, beat an offside trap to shoot home beautifully.
Another former Hearts star, Francis Bossman, picked a pass in the 65th minute and relayed it to Eranio to equalise with an intelligent shot. The home fans called for more goals and the players responded with some good football resulting in the winning goal in the 70th minute. It was Bossman who once again set up Adu Poku to shoot home the winner.
GRi…/
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By William Dodzi Ezah
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2002 - Ghana has once again employed the services of another expatriate coach to handle the senior national team, the Black stars, in an attempt to lift the sinking image of the country's in football.
The Yugoslav national, Millan Zivadinovic who has been engaged for a two-year renewable contract will earn $8,000 dollars a month and an enticement fee of 10,000 dollars- obviously the cheapest on the "market." Former Stars' expatriate coach Giusepe Dossena earned $12,000, Bruno Metsu of Senegal is reported to be earning about $12,000 while countries like Cameroon and Nigeria spend around 25,000 to $30,000 for their expatriate coaches.
Despite the meagre salary of Zivadinovic, there is no doubt that he is an experienced man and a coach of a class, considering his stinct with, Qatar, Suadi Arabia and Yugoslavia. However, there are great challenges and expectations awaiting the new Black Stars' coach as he takes on the appointment as the technical head of the national team. Ghana is no doubt one of the power houses in African football but alas, her image has dwindled in recent times.
The coach must bear in mind that in his bid to build a winsome team he might be meeting tough challenges some of which might even make him loose close friends. But he has to surmount them in order to see his new challenge become a fruitful one.
Indiscipline has been one of the major causes of our frequent fallouts in many tournaments, as players prefer doing their own thing, contrary to instructions both on the field, off the field and in camp. There are instances where it was alleged that players were found enjoying themselves at beer bars on the eve of matches instead of being in camp. Other instances such as wearing of caps while training have also been reported from the camp of the Black Stars.
The issue of disrespect to coaches by players has been a problem and recently the Stars elimination from the nations cup was attributed to indiscipline on the part of some players. Some of players were reported to have even have packed bag and baggage and left Mali before the end of the tournament.
The are other acts of indiscipline that has bedeviled the Stars for the past years and all Ghanaians are aware of these things, among them, players’ response to call-ups. Until recently most the players who featured for the nation were foreign based and getting them at a good time to play matches has been a major huddle for many past coaches of the National team.
While players give flimsy excuses to stay away from national calls, some refuse to come due to their displeasure over treatments meted out to them by some people either in the GFA or the technical handlers. Some clubs also refused to allow their players to honour national call even though the players might be willing to play for their nation. This, the clubs do because of their intention to perform well in their respective leagues.
Another issue is interference. This word is not strange to any soccer fan in the country as members of the GFA and Ministry of Youth and Sports have on many occasions pocked their noses in technical affairs of the coaches branding their actions as technical intervention.
There was a situation when a coach is alleged to have sacked an F.A member from the dressing room citing interference as the reason. Even in the new administration of the GFA there are reported cases of interference in the work of the coach who took the team to CAN 2002 in Mali. Therefore the problem of interference till exists and the coach must be aware it.
The assurance given by the Mr. Osei-Kwaku minister of Youth and Sports as well as Mr Ben Koufie, Chairman of the GFA, to give the coach free hand to work is a step in the right direction if these words can be adhered to. Sports infrastructure in our part of the continent are not the best if compared to places where the new coach had done his job but he is expected to make do with what is available to achieve results.
The press especially the sporting press in Ghana is very vibrant and readily points out mistakes committed by coaches, players and soccer administrators as well as offer suggestions to such problems. But in an attempt to carry out these functions there are excesses and this has generated one or two problems.
Taking up a coaching appointment in Ghana cannot go without any criticisms from the press. He may like or dislike the attitude of some pressmen but at the end of the day he has to work hand in hand with them. His work might not be successful without the criticisms and suggestions from the press.
In the face of all these problems together with the meagre financial arrangements, Ghanaians would be expecting so much from Mr Zivadinovic as the new Black Stars coach. Mr Zivadinovic would have to build a strong team for the nation capable of qualifying us to all major tournaments and subsequently putting up an excellent performance in all tournaments.
On the local and international arena the nation is abound in soccer talents, which can take us to places if they are well groomed. Players have be selected from foreign league clubs to form a team but they have proved unreliable and Ghanaians await the day a coach would be chosen to perform the task of moulding the talents we have both at the local and foreign level to conquer Africa and the World.
Ghanaians for the past years have been thirsty for honours in the Nations Cup as well as qualifying for the World Cup but this has eluded us. The nation’s last honours at the African cup of nations was in Libya in 1982 when they last won the cup. Since then, we have been at all the nations cup from 1992 but have never touched the cup. Our best performance was in Senegal in 1992 when Ghana placed second. The nation is therefore in dire need of the trophy, which had decorated our wardrobe for four times.
When Cameroon caused a surprise at the World Cup in 1990 in Italy by getting to the quarterfinal stage, many Africans were geared up to achieve this similar feat and the qualifying series became more competitive, since then but Ghana's attempt to make it have always fallen on rocks. With the 2006 African Cup of nations now as the qualifying stages it is important that we take the series seriously and ensure qualification Mr. Zivadinovic is expected to build a team capable of qualifying to that event to be tagged in Germany in 2006.
There is no doubt that the challenges are herculean but with the assurance from Mr Ben Koufie and Mr Edward Osei-Kwaku, we all live to see whether this can be done. All hands are desk and eyes are watching to see whether Mr. Zivadinovic Millan can rescue the nation from the doldrums and "lead us to the promised land."
GRi…/
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