AFCON 2021 Qualifier: Sports Ministry reduces ticket prices for Ghana – South Africa clash

The ticket prices for the match between Ghana Black Stars and Bafana Bafana of South Africa has been reduced ahead of the AFCON 2021 qualifier at Cape Coast stadium.

This new development comes after the National Sports Authority’s earlier announcement that match tickets were going to cost 10 and 20 cedis for popular stand and VIP respectively.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has however confirmed a 50% reduction in the match-day ticket to encourage more support for the Black Stars.

Ghana’s objective will be to record a convincing victory to appease their fans after failing to annex the recently ended AFCON in Egypt.

The Ghana Football Association under the leadership of Mr. Kurt Okraku have launched a campaign #BringBackTheLove which is aimed at igniting passion and support for the Black Stars in their quest to redeem themselves by qualifying and also winning the next AFCON tourney.

Ghana opens U-23 AFCON campaign with draw against Cameroon

The Black Meteors of Ghana opened their 2019 U-23 AFCON campaign with a hard earned 1-1 draw game against a very strong Cameroonian side on Friday evening.

The game which was held at the Cairo International stadium saw the two giants of African football square it off in a physical battle for a chance to get all three points.

Cameroon created the first opportunity of the game in the first minute when a through pass was played in for target man Franck Evina but his shot was deflected over the post.

The Ghanaians reacted by calmly keeping possession of the ball and stringing in good pass in midfield but failed to create any clear cut chances in the first half.

Coach Ibrahim Tanko seemed to have engineered a new energy in his Ghanaian side when play resumed in the second half as the Meteors pressed more for the opening goal.

However, a rather rush challenge and an unnecessary foul by Ghanaian defender Habib Mohammed resulted in a freekick which Franck Evina effected expertly to give Cameroon the lead in the 59th minute.

As the game progressed, the introduction of Emmanuel Lomotey and Osei Owusu brought a new life into the Ghanaian midfield and it was no surprise that the Meteors got the much needed equalizer through Habib Mohammed’s well flicked effort inside the penalty box, with only three minutes to play.

The game eventually ended in a 1-1 drawn game as both coaches who were former club teammates seemed satisfied with the result, as they exchanged pleasantries.

Ghana’s next opponent Egypt earlier on beat Mali by a goal to nil to go top of group A table.

Kwesi Appiah replaces injured Afful with Fatawu ahead of AFCON qualifier

Hearts of Oak defender Fatawu Mohammed has been called to replace the injured Harrison Afful ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier next week.

Fatawu was part of Ghana’s Black Stars B team that won bronze at the 2019 WAFU Cup of Nations in Senegal.

He has been called to replace Columbus Crew defender Harrison Afful who has been ruled out of the double header due to injury.

Ghana will be without combative midfielder Mubarak Wakaso who also picked up an injury whiles playing for his club team Deportivo Alaves in the Spanish league.

Wakaso had surgery and report indicates that he is most likely to muss the game.

Coach Kwasi Appiah will invite only Fatawu to join the team ahead of the double header.

Ghana will begin camping this Sunday.

U-23 AFCON: Ghana and Cameroon clash in a crunching Group A opener today

Two familiar foes Ibrahim Tanko and Rigobert Song face each other again, as the Black Meteors of Ghana and Cameroon U23 square off at the Cairo International Stadium on this evening.

Both countries being debutant of the tournament, the two sides come against each other in Group A at 10pm local time (8pm Ghana time).

It is interesting to know that Black Meteors coach Ibrahim Tanko is coming up against his old friend and former team manager when he was assistant coach of the Indomitable Lions four years ago, a duel that he is really relishing.

“Rigo is a very good friend of mine and I worked with him when I was with Cameroon. We also speak every time we have the time. When I was coach he was the team manager so I am very happy that he’s qualified the team and am looking forward to the match,” the former Indomitable Lions assistant coach said at the pre match press conference.

Coach Tanko insists that the absence of the domestic league in Ghana will not affect the team’s performance in the tournament.

“It’s true we’ve not had competitive domestic football in about a year but we also have players in foreign leagues so we came here with a good blend of local and foreign based players for this competition."

“Though we didn’t get all the players we wanted I believe in the players I’ve invited and I believe they will show what they can do. I am very happy with the performance I’ve seen from them so far”

Ghana qualified to the competition after edging out Tunisia in the final stage of the qualifiers while Cameroon also accounted for Tunisia to book a place in the final eight for the tournament.

The last time the two sides met was in the 2011 All Africa Games where Ghana beat Cameroon 1-0 and went on to win the competition.

Ghana will face hosts Egypt in the second group match before playing against Mali in the final match of the group stage. Best two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals where the winner and two runner ups will secure tickets to represent Africa at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

U-23 AFCON begins with Egypt vs Mali tasty opener today

The third edition of Total U-23 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off today as hosts Egypt lock horns with Mali at the Cairo International Stadium in the Egyptian capital

Serving also as Africa’s qualifiers to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the top three finishers at the Egypt 2019 tournament will bear the continent’s torches at next summer quadrennial multi-sports global event.

The Olympic Pharaohs as Egypt are nicknamed are seeking their 12th appearance in the Olympic Games, an African record. Egypt’s first appearance in the Olympics football tournament dates back to a full century ago, in Antwerp 1920. The Pharaohs finished fourth twice, in Amsterdam 1928 and Tokyo 1964.

Guided by ex-player and senior national team coach Shawky Gharib, Egypt enters the tournament with a squad fully based on domestic players. With the likes of skipper Ramadan Sobhy, strikers Mostafa Mohamed and Salah Mohsen who featured for senior team, and with the expected support from the stands, expectations are high on the shoulders of Gharib’s boys.

On the other hand, Mali had just one previous appearance in the Olympics, in Athens 2004 bowing out from the quarterfinals. Les Aigles are hoping for an Olympic return with a generation mainly based on the class of 2015 who finished as runner ups in the U-17 FIFA World Cup in Chile.

Fanyéri Diarra hopes to lead Mali to the Olympic scene yet again 16 years after their debut, as Les Aigles dream of a podium finish in Egypt. He will have the likes of Turkey based forward Ali Malle and Al Ahly midfielder Aliou Dieng to rely on.

Partey misses out as Mukarama and Addo make shortlist for 2018 CAF Awards

 The Confederations of African Football (CAF) have today released a shortlist for the annual award ceremony which will be taking place on 8th January 2019 in Dakar, Senegal.

Ghana and Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey misses out on the men's best player category whiles Abdulai Mukarama and Elizabeth Addo who are the captains of Ghana National U17 and Black Queens respectively, made the shortlist for the African women's best player award.

Below are the shortlists for CAF Awards 2018

African Player of the Year
1. Alex Iwobi (Nigeria & Arsenal)
2. Andre Onana (Cameroon & Ajax)
3. Anis Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)
4. Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
5. Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus)
6. Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Arsenal)
8. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
9. Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
10. Walid Soliman (Egypt & Ahly)

Women’s Player of the Year
1. Abdulai Mukarama (Ghana & Northern Ladies)
2. Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dilian Quanjian)
3. Bassira Toure (Mali & AS Mande)
4. Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Houston Dash)
5. Elizabeth Addo (Ghana & Seattle Reign)
6. Francisca Ordega (Nigeria & Washington Spirit)
7. Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroon & CSKA Moskow)
8. Janine Van Wyk (South Africa & Houston Dash)
9. Onome Ebi (Nigeria & Hekan Huisanhang)
10. Raissa Feudjio (Cameroon & Aland United)
11. Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi & Jiangsu Suning)

Youth Player of the Year
1. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmunmd)
2. Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan)
3. Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria & Leicester City)

Men’s Coach of the Year
1. Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
2. Herve Renard (Morocco)
3. Moine Chaabani (Esperance)

Women’s Coach of the Year
1. Desiree Ellis (South Africa)
2. Joseph Brian Ndoko (Cameroon)
3. Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria)

Men’s National Team of the Year
1. Madagascar
2. Mauritania
3. Uganda

Women’s National Team of the Year
1. Cameroon
2. Nigeria
3. South Africa

Asante Kotoko fly out on Tuesday

Asante Kotoko will fly out to Ethiopia en route to Kenya on Tuesday ahead of the CAF Confederation Cup match against Kariobangi Sharks on Saturday.

The Porcupine Warriors play the Kenyan outfit in the first leg of the second preliminary round at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, Nairobi, Kenya.

With the traveling party yet to be confirmed, management has revealed the traveling route indicating a transit in Ethiopia.

The team will leave Accra for Addis Ababa on Tuesday afternoon, spend a night in the Ethiopian capital and fly to Nairobi around 08:00 GMT the next morning.

The Porcupines Warriors will arrive in Kenya on Wednesday afternoon hoping to garner a favourable result in the first leg to take into the second fixture slated for the Baba Yara Stadium on December 22, 2018.

Source: Asantekotokosc.com