#

ROUNDUP: Performance of Ghanaian players abroad

Published

3 years ago

April 16, 2023

Ghanaian players across the globe were in action for their clubs over the weekend.

In this piece, I take a look at some of these players who made the most of their game time for their clubs in England, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, and beyond.

AUSTRIA

Mohammed Fuseini watched on from the bench as Sturm Graz won away to Klagenfurt in the Austria Bundesliga.

Forson Amankwah saw 12 minutes as Salzburg drew to Mustapha Ibrahim’s LASK at home in the Austria Bundesliga.

Lawrence Agyekum lasted the entire duration for Liefering’s 2-2 draw with Paul Mensah’s BW Linz in the Austria Liga 2.

BELGIUM

Joseph Painstil scored a brace and assisted once in Genk’s mauling off Majeed Ashimeru’s Anderlecht.

Oostende’s David Atanga was on the losing end to Leuven in the Jupiler Pro League.

Abdul Nurudeen was on the bench for Eupen as they were thrashed beyond recognition at home by Zulte Waregem in the Jupiler Pro League.

Ghana captain, Andrew Ayew’s Nottingham Forest lost at home to ManUtd.

Thomas Partey had an afternoon to forget as Arsenal’s title challenge suffered a blip with their 2-2 draw against Westham United.

Tariq Lamptey continues to nurse a knee injury but watched as his Brighton side secured their first win over Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge.

Daniel Amartey watched from the bench as Leicester were beaten away from home by ManCIty at the Etihad Sports Stadium.

Kamaldeen Sulemana starred for Southampton in their home loss to Crystal Palace, that game saw Jordan Ayew and Jeffrey Schlupp play varied roles to ensure the win for their side as Mohammed Salisu was out of action due to injury.

Albert Adomah’s QPR lost heavily to Coventry by 3-0.

Andy Yiadom captained Reading to a goalless draw against Burnley. Kevin Abrefa played 24 minutes whiles Baba Rahman was missing in action following a leg injury.

Benjamin Tetteh missed out due to muscle injury as Hull City drew Blackburn.

Joojo Wollacott made the bench for Charlton as they were walloped by Ipswich in a six-goal thriller in the League One.

FRANCE

Alexander Djiku’s Strasbourg basked a 3 -1 win over AC Ajaccio.

Abdul Salis Samed saw red as RC Lens lost to table toppers, PSG in the Ligue 1.

Alidu Seidu saw red as Clermont held on to a 2-1 win over Angers in Ligue 1.

Gideon Mensah and Elisha Owusu continued to nurse injuries as Auxerre bagged a win over Nantes.

GERMANY

Kingsley Schindler featured for FC Koln -as they drew 1-1 to Mainz in the German Bundesliga.

Stephen Ambrosius’ Karlsruher won 4-2 over Bielefeld.

Braydon Marvin Manu and Patrick Pfeiffer were in action as Darmstadt lost to Dusseldorf in the German Bundesliga 2.

Ransford -Yeboah Konigsdorffer starred for Hamburger SV as they lost away from to Kaiserslautern in the German Bundesliga 2.

Kwasi Okyere Wriedt tasted the remaining 30 minutes to Holstein Kiel to a 2-1 win over Nurnberg in the German Bundesliga 2.

Chris Antwi-Adjei came off the bench to help Bochum secure a point away to Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.

Kwabena Owusu came off the bench to score in Ferencvaros’ home demolishing off Honved in the OTP Bank Liga. Shadirack Say was on the bench for the hots.

ISRAEL

Zakaria Mugeese starred for Ashdod in their 1-1 M.Tel Aviv. Ebenezer Mamatah, and Kamaheni Montari did not make match day squad for the host.

PORTUGAL

Ibrahim Abass’ last-minute goal gave Chaves a momentous victory over Benfica in the Liga.

Emmanuel Boateng’s Rio Ave drew 1-1 to Casa Pia in the Liga Portugal.

SPAIN

Inaki Williams seems to have rediscovered his goal-scoring feat as he bagged a brace to help Athletic win over Real Sociedad in the La Liga.

A Samuel Obeng came off the bench to Huesca’s loss to Andorra in the La Liga 2.

SWEDEN

Ibrahim Sadiq was not in action as BK Hacken fell at home to Kalmar in the Allsvenskan.

SWITZERLAND

Lawrence At-Zigi was in post for St. Gallen as they saw defeat at home to Winterthur in the Super League.

Kasim Nuhu and Emmanuel Essiam played out the full game for Basel in their 1-1 draw against Young Boys Super League.

#

Troost- Ekong, Ron Williams, Nsue, Adingra win big at AFCON 2023

Published

3 years ago

February 12, 2024

Raphael Bannerman-Quartey

The 34^th edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations saw Cote d’Ivoire dramatically beat Nigeria with other individuals rewarded for their exploits at the end of the tournament.

Equatorial Guinea captain, Emilio Nsue scooped the top scorer award at the just-ended TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

He emerged as the victor of the award with five goals from four games in the tournament.
The highlight of this feat was his first and only hat trick against host Cotê d’Ivoire at the Alassane Outtara Sports Stadium in Abidjan.

Emilio Nsue with the top goal scorer award

Côte d’Ivoire youngster, Simon Adingra, was also named the Best Young Player of the Tournament at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

READ MORE: Former Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet interested in Black Stars job
The young sensation had his elementary football training with Ghana’s Right to Dreams Academy was a breath of fresh air in the games that he played. His dazzling skillset, and mazy runs, which was a consistent worry for any oppositions like Senegal, Mali, DR Congo, and Nigeria he played against in the tournament.

Simon Adingra

Emerse Fae picked up the Best Coach of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after historically leading his home nation to an impressive victory on home soil over Nigeria.

READ MORE : AFCON2023: Côte d’Ivoire’s Simon Adingra bags Best Young Player of the Tournament award
The former France youth team coach led his country to victory after former coach, Jean-Louis Gasset was relieved from his duties as the side neared elimination.
Fae managed vital wins against, defending champions, Senegal, Mali, and DR Congo and enthrone it with a dramatic winner over Nigeria in the finals.

Emerson Fae

Nigeria captain, William Troost-Ekong’s mouthwatering exemplary leadership skills went unnoticed as he ended the night acknowledged as the Best Player of the Tournament.
His exceptional leadership skills at the back saw him carry Nigeria through the group stages to the finals scoring three goals in seven games.

Troost- Ekong

Bafana Bafana shot-stopper, Ronwen Williams’ heroics in the penalty shoot-out against, Equatorial Guinea and DR Congo him eclipse Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabili for the Ecobank Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.

Ronwen Williams (South Africa)

Côte d’Ivoire was the biggest winner of the night as they finished off Nigeria in a three-goal thriller to do the host and win after Egypt in 2026. The win sees them sees them win their third trophy of AFCON since, 1992 and 2015.

TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Winners List:

Winner: Cote d’Ivoire
Finalist: Nigeria
Third: South Africa
Fourth: Democratic Republic of Congo
TotalEnergies Best Player: William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria)
Puma Golden Boat: Emilio Nsue Lopez
Best Ecobank Goalkeeper: Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Fair-Play Air Côte d’Ivoire Team: South Africa

#

Black Stars technical team dissolved after early AFCON exit

Published

3 years ago

January 24, 2024

New Admin

Black Stars technical team dissolved after early AFCON exit

The Executive Council of the Ghana football Association has disbanded the technical staff of the Black Stars after an awful AFCON 2023 tournament.

Following the disappointing display of the Black Stars at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, the Ghana Football Association has taken a definitive step by disbanding the entire technical staff.

Head coach Chris Hughton, along with assistants George Boateng and Didi Dramani, goalkeeper coach Richard Kingston, and other staff members, will be departing.

The team’s inability to secure a vital victory against Mozambique, leading to a 2-2 draw, ultimately resulted in their elimination from the tournament.

#

AFCON 2023: Chris Hughton disappointed with Cape Verde loss

Published

3 years ago

January 15, 2024

Raphael Bannerman-Quartey

Ghana head coach Chris Hughton has expressed disappointment after recording a defeat in the opening game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The Black Stars shockingly lost to the Blue Sharks for the first time in a game they were hotly tipped to win.

Ghana was unfortunate to go behind as early as the 17th minute to a Jamiro Monteiro goal in the first half.

Alexander Djiku pulled the BlackStars parity after rising highest to head home a Jordan Ayew cross but the Blue Sharks will have the final laugh through, substitute, Gary Rodrigues, who tapped into an empty net following a defensive mixup by the West African base country.

Speaking at the post-match interview, Hughton was left disappointed by the turn of events in the opening game.

“I think it rocked us the goal that we conceded [that early] but I thought that we got back into the game and at that stage, it looked like we could go on and win it,” Hughton said.

“We are hugely disappointed with the result.”

BlackStars will hope for an improved performance as they take on Egypt on Thursday, January 18 in a game they have to win to keep their AFCON hopes alive.

Cape Verde tops Group B with 3 points, Egypt and Mozambique follow up with a point each with Ghana at the base with no point.

#

Heart of Lions appoint Bashir Hayford as new head coach

Published

3 years ago

December 21, 2023

Raphael Bannerman-Quartey

Heart of Lions have appointed experienced figurehead Bashir Hayford as their new coach for the remainder of the season.

Bahir takes over from Fatawu Salifu, who was dismissed as a result of bad results for the Kpando-based club in the ongoing Ghana Premier League 2023/24 season.

Though Salifu was instrumental in aiding the Lions back into the league after almost a decade of absence, the strong tides of the league were too much for him as he was winless in thirteen games, losing five and drawing the remainder of games.

🗣 || 𝓐𝓟𝓟𝓞𝓘𝓝𝓣𝓜𝓔𝓝𝓣 𝓞𝓕 𝓝𝓔𝓦 𝓒𝓞𝓐𝓒𝓗

🤝 We are delighted to officially announce the appointment of Bashir Hayford as the Club’s new Head Coach.
He makes a return to the Lions Den.

𝑾𝒐𝒆𝒛𝒐𝒓, 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒉. #DzieWoaNu #HOLFC🦁🔴🔵 #FrerolRuralBank pic.twitter.com/cLdRmgBYL5

— Kpando Heart Of Lions Fc (@HeartOfLionsFc) December 21, 2023