Ghana Open to the Return of Kevin Prince Boateng

Ghana manager James Kwesi Appiah claimed that the likelihood of recalling Kevin Prince Boetang is still open for the national team. Regarded as one of the enigmas for Ghanaian football, Kevin Prince Boetang has been unable to satisfy the immense talent at his disposal and he has become something of a journeyman.

He was a regular for the national team before being taken out of the squad in 2014. He has been placed under indefinite suspension for his verbal assault at the coach during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The 31-year-old was found guilty along with Sulley Muntari. It has been reported that only an apology from the player would result in a recall to the national team.

Ghana Open to the Return of Kevin Prince Boateng

Now, however, there appears to be a change in the stance from Ghana, who have watched the player make a move to Barcelona of all clubs in the January transfer window. It may be one of the stranger acquisitions form the Catalan club, but the talent at the disposal of the 31-year-old is quite obvious. He has been able to come up with two goals for Ghana in his 15 appearances, and his switch to Barcelona comes at a time when Ghana are looking desperate for quality ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations that will take place in July.

“Kevin-Prince Boateng is a Ghanaian and currently he is playing very well. If you look at our striking options, we have always relied on [Asamoah] Gyan, so it’s about time we all checked and got at least four strikers that we can always rely on. Kevin is one of the good strikers as I have said, but in Brazil, he and Sulley were suspended by the FA for their unruly behaviours. I will invite him because it is about the country [and] not about any individual,” said Kwesi Appiah.

Simeone: Partey could have played for Manchester City

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has praised the qualities of midfielder Thomas Partey while stating that he could have played for either Manchester City or Manchester United. The Ghana international has developed through the ranks at the Madrid giants and he was recently central to their impressive 2-0 triumph over Getafe in the Spanish La Liga.

Speaking to reporters, Simeone was impressed with the showing of Partey in the centre of the park after influencing both first-half goals scored by Antonio Griezmann and Saul Niguez respectively. He added that the Ghanaian could have quite easily headed to the Premier League in another instance and rates him very highly within the club’s ranks.

Simeone: Partey could have played for Manchester City

“I liked Thomas today. He and Rodrigo [Hernandez Cascante] were great. I think he’s improving, Thomas is an amazing player. He could have played for Manchester City [or] Manchester United. We’re talking about a great player here. I rate him very highly,” he was quoted as saying following the 2-0 triumph over Getafe at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Partey initially made a slow start to the proceedings with the Madrid-based outfit but over the past 18 months, he has become more of a regular while shining in the central midfield role. In the current season, he has not been overly creative but he has nonetheless been a notable presence at the heart of the midfield while contributing two goals and four assists in the process.

During the recent winter transfer window, Partey was identified as one of the probable targets for Manchester City with Fernandinho approaching the final stages of his career and the Citizens may yet consider an approach when the season comes to a close. Partey, who is contracted to Atleti under June 2023, has made nearly 125 appearances for them across all competitions. He has also managed 17 caps with the Ghanaian national team.

Which African Team Will Go Furthest?

A disappointing qualifying campaign that produced just one win from six matches ensured Ghana would not be taking part in this summer’s World Cup tournament in Russia.

As the Black Stars now turn their attention to Africa Cup of Nations qualification, which continues in September, five other African nations (Nigeria, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, and Tunisia) have a World Cup to look forward to. But which nation will prevail as the continent’s leading representative?

A disappointing qualifying campaign that produced just one win from six matches ensured Ghana would not be taking part in this summer’s World Cup tournament in Russia.

Egypt

Egypt were the first African team to play at a World Cup and up until 1970, they were the only nation to have made it to the finals. In the subsequent 48 years, 12 African teams have featured at the event.

Egypt topped Ghana’s qualifying group, so Black Stars fans will be well aware of their quality. They won four, drew one and lost one during qualifying and finished four points clear of second-ranked Uganda. Their star player is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who scored two crucial goals against Congo to secure qualification. Other big name players included Ali Gabr and Ahmed Hegazi (West Bromwich Albion) and Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal).

Nigeria

Nigeria have good World Cup pedigree having appeared in five tournaments including the last two. They were undefeated in qualifying and secured their place in Russia with a 1-0 victory over Zambia, Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi scoring the crucial goal. They are currently second favourites with William Hill in the Top African Team betting market behind Senegal. The squad boasts plenty of talent including the aforementioned Alex Iwobi (Arsenal), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Jon Obi Mikel (Tianjin Teda) and Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City).

Senegal

Despite having only featured at one previous World Cup final (Japan and South Korea in 2002), Senegal will start the 2018 tournament as favourites to be the Top African Team. On their previous appearance, they went all the way to the quarter-finals before losing to Turkey. Their Captain during that campaign, Aliou Cisse, is now Coach of the team. Key players include Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Mame Diouf (Stoke City), Cheik Kouyate (West Ham United), Mohamed Diame (Newcastle), Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Omar Niasse (Everton) and Pape Souare (Crystal Palace).

Morocco

Morocco qualified from a group which included recent World Cup regulars Ivory Coast. The Atlas Lions will be competing for the first time since 1998 in what will be their fifth appearance overall. Their best ever performance came in 1986 when they escaped the Group Stages before falling in the second round. Sofiane Boufal of Premier League side Southampton is perhaps their highest profile player.

Tunisia

Nabil Maâloul’s men qualified undefeated in the qualifying campaign to reach their fifth World Cup finals and their first since 2006. Despite making it to five tournaments, Tunisia have only ever recorded one win and that came against Mexico in the 1978 edition in Argentina. Their star player is Youssef Msakni, who plays for Al-Duhail in the Qatari football league, the 27-year-old has scored 69 time in 102 appearances for the club and has been linked with a move to the Premier League.

Prediction

Of the five African teams, Senegal justify their status as favourites to go the furthest. They boast a wealth of talent who play at the highest level and that should be key in the high-pressure environment of the world’s biggest soccer tournament.

UNITY OIL SET TO BECOME NEW SPONSORS

Unity oil Company Limited is set to become the new sponsors of the Ghanae Premier League following the withdrawal of First Capital plus Bank from the deal they had with the Ghana Football Association.

The corporate affairs Manager of the company, Alfred Frimpong made the revelation to the public.

The corporate affairs Manager of the company, Alfred Frimpong made the revelation to the public.

The withdrawal from the former sponsors caused a mild pause as clubs struggled to fund their teams in the first round of the season. The clubs expressed their displeasure about the sponsor-less League with some Clubs threatening to boycott the League due to their inability to fund for players and officials.

There were rumours that Casino Francais were keen to take on the sponsorship, but Unity stepped in ahead of them.

This necessitated the stepping in of the company, Frimpong said. He told Class FM: “We are yet to engage some stakeholders and see how things will go and then later present it to management for the way forward. It doesn’t mean that we are going to sponsor the Ghana Premier League yet, we are considering it and it’s up to management to decide whether we go in for it or not.”

The President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, already revealed that the FA was really working at getting another sponsor for the League as they headed for the second round. The league is on break now but will return to action from the 26th of the month.

The FA cup was sponsored by telecom giants, MTN for the 2016 edition. The competition is in the quarter final stage, where Kumasi Asante Kotoko lost to Bechem United after a penalty shootout that ended 2-3.

United were ahead from as early as the 7th minute but the Kumasi team equalized after the break and were even set to seal the game but they failed to convert their chances. They even lost a penalty awarded in the 81st minute. The game dragged to half time until it had to be separated through penalties.

DODOO OPTS TO PLAY FOR GHANA

England youth player Joe Dodoo opted to play for the Black Stars of Ghana, ignoring the English national team.

He joined the training camp of Ghana in the country’s capital despite concerns over his eligibility, according to local reports. The Leicester City attacker‘s decision to play for his country was surprising as he has played for the England youth team.

England youth player Joe Dodoo opted to play for the Black Stars of Ghana, ignoring the English national team.

The 18-year-old was invited for Ghana’s friendly against Guinea but was later cancelled. The prolific young attacker decided to play for his country of birth which would lead to Avram Grant revising his plans to include the player in the plan to play Mauritius on Sunday. The Kumasi-born Dodoo arrived in Ghana on Thursday and has quickly settled into his new environment.

He hopes to join the Black Stars as they prepare for their AFCON 2017 qualifier, with they should win with ease if you have a look at the latest StanJames betting odds for the match – Ghana are odds on whilst their rivals are at over 10/1 to win.

He is reported to have mixed well with the players on ground and is giving the training his best shot. The presence of Jeff Schlupp and Daniel Amartey in the Ghana squad also made his settling in the team easy. Ghana will hope to avoid defeat in Mauritius on Sunday in order to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Gabon.

Just this month the team moved up in the FIFA rankings by just one place, though they remained in the same spot in Africa. Though they were inactive in the period under review, they had accumulated points after FIFA factored in 45 international friendlies along with four 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches for the OFC region. Cote D’Ivoire slipped to two places to the 36th position in the ranking but held their spot in Africa.

In the World rankings, Argentina and Belgium held onto first and second place respectively. There were a lot of movements in the top 50 as there were a lot of international matches played.

GHANA UNSURE ON GRANT

The Ghana association is not too amused by the fact that the head coach of the senior team, Avram Grant, is not monitoring the games of country’s top flight domestic competition and is instead focussing on his media assignments in England.

According to one of the senior officials of the association, it has been strictly conveyed to Grant that he is being expected to come back as soon as possible.

Not only has Grant been doing media commitments, but he has also been helping StanJames on their virtual football offering, helping to tweak the gameplay and back-end to make the game engine as realistic as possible.

That official was quoted as saying, “Grant has been told to get back to the country at the earliest. We would like him to be present in some of the games going on in Ghana League at the moment.”

“We have a qualifying game with Mozambique just around the corner and the coach has to be here for the preparations to get started. Ghana has to face Mozambique in back to back games later this month.”

As far as Grant is concerned, it’s not the first case of a coach taking charge of a team from Africa and then, spending his time doing punditry covering the matches of some other league and it’s justifiable to some extent as many star African players appear in those leagues and thus, making it easy for the coach to keep a watch on them.

Also from Ghana, the likes of Baba Rahman and the others play for the Barclays Premier League clubs and being in England, working on TV, Grant can easily observe their form and fitness.

But, obviously, the association’s point is quite valid too that the coach’s job is to build the team keeping the future in mind and that he can do only if he follows the emerging talents who are playing domestically and Grant is not being able to do that presently.

KEY TO QUALIFICATION

Ghana Football Association’s Randy Abbey claims that the nation’s match with USA at the World Cup will hold key to their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition. Ghana have been given a tough draw at the World Cup 2014, as they will be up against Portugal, Germany, and the USA in the group stages.

Germany and Portugal are without doubt favourites to qualify for the knockout stages, thus leaving USA and Ghana to fight out.
Ghana’s first match of the competition will be against USA.

Three points from this fixture could change the whole complexion according to Abbey. Beating USA is something that Ghana have done twice in the last two meetings between the two teams, but under Jurgen Klinsmann, this US team are determined to avoid a repeat of the same. Ghana are outside favourites to get into the final qualification spot for the knockout stages.

Abbey claims that the team will also be able to get relaxed if they get a win against USA in the first match. This would in turn help them do well in the subsequent two matches against big guns Portugal and Germany. Ghana have made an appearance in the last two world cups, while they remain as one of the first African teams to come close to winning the trophy.

“The key to our progress in the World Cup is the first game against USA. I think that the first game against USA is key and will go a long way to determine whether we will progress or not. I don’t hope for us to lose that game. It is a game we must win and I am positive minded we will win it. We need to win our first game, it is crucial. When we win that game it takes a lot of nerves off,” said Abbey.

TOUGH DRAW

Ghana have been given a tough group at the World Cup 2014, as they will be playing against Germany, Portugal, and the USA in the group stages.

Despite being one of the strongest African teams, this could jeopardise their chances of going to the knockout stages of the tournament. This is the feeling of AC Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari, who was on the scoresheet in the last two editions of the competition. The former Portsmouth man is regarded as one of the important members in the team following the absence of Michael Essien.

Ghana have been given a tough group at the World Cup 2014, as they will be playing against Germany, Portugal, and the USA in the group stages.

Once regarded as the mainstay of Ghana’s midfield, Essien quality has somewhat decreased in recent years due to the several injuries he has suffered in the last few years. As a result, Muntari has become the key member of Ghana’s midfield. The 29-year-old says that the Black Stars have a tough task ahead of them in order to even reach the knockout stages. He says that Germany and Portugal are rightly getting all the attention, but that should not take away attention from the USA, who he regards as one of the dark horses.

Ghana’s first match will be against the United States in a match where three points would mean a lot since the two teams then play against Germany and Portugal.

“I was a little surprised at the pairings we got for the games in Brazil. We have to respect the teams we will face in the World Cup. The draw gave us Germany, who are very good and we also got Portugal and the United States. I can understand the attention on Germany and Portugal but the USA will be equally difficult to beat. We have beaten them twice at the World Cup so they would also want to get back at us. They will be difficult to beat as it is our third meeting,” said Muntari.

GHANA TIPPED

Ghana have been the best African team in the last two editions of the FIFA World Cup and they are once again expected to do well after the failure to win the recent African cup of nations.

Former captain Stephen Appiah has said that he is confident that the team can progress to the semifinals stage of the competition. No African team has reached the World Cup semifinals in recent times.

The best result they have achieved has been reaching the quarter-final stage, but quality has increased substantially within the African teams over the last decade.

Ghana have been the best African team in the last two editions of the FIFA World Cup and they are once again expected to do well after the failure to win the recent African cup of nations.

The best result they have achieved has been reaching the quarter-final stage, but quality has increased substantially within the African teams over the last decade.
It will be only a matter of time before Africa has its first World Cup winner. Appiah says that he hopes that Ghana take the first steps towards doing that by reaching the semifinals. The likes of Ivory Coast and Cameron will also be at the World Cup, while current African cup of Nations holders Nigeria will be one of the favourites to get past the quarter-finals. Nigeria look extremely strong at the moment due to the mixture of young and experienced players.

“There is something special about the Black Stars. The 2006 World Cup was our first time experience of playing in the World Cup. But we managed to reach the knock out phase after losing to Brazil. There was a progress in the 2010 World Cup after reaching the quarter finals. I can assure that the Black Stars will put up a wonderful display with their World Cup experience, and reach the semi finals in Brazil,” said Appiah.

Appiah was captain of the Ghana team that made it into the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals. The recent 7-3 win over Egypt on aggregate confirmed Ghana’s presence in the third consecutive World Cup.

Ghana’s next match will be a friendly against Congo in January.

GHANA LEARN OPPONENTS

Ghana will be learning their opponents for the final round of the World Cup qualifiers shortly. They are one of the five seeded nations that will take part in the draw. They could face seems like Cameroon and Ethiopia in the play-offs.

Even though they are one of the favourites to secure a place in the finals, Ghana are also aware of the fact that they would have a tough competition. Kwesi Appiah has said that he is ready to play against any of the opponents because he is confident of a victory.

Ghana reached the semifinals of the African cup of nations. They are not expected to be a major force at the 2014 World Cup due to the presence of several strong teams like Spain and Brazil. Despite this, they are expected to make an impact nonetheless with the presence of experienced players like Michael Essien. Burkina Faso, Senegal, Egypt, and Cameroon are some of the top teams that could face Ghana in the play-offs. This will be a two leg encounter that will see the winner progress to the World Cup finals in Brazil.
Appiah has said that once Ghana learn their opposition, they will start preparing almost immediately. He has said that he is confident of progression to the finals.

“I believe that if you want to go to the World Cup , you should be prepared to play any team that comes your way. Which ever team or country that God gives, I believe that we are prepared to play them. the most important thing is that once we know the opponent we are playing with, then we start preparing,” said Appiah ahead of the draw. There have been concerns about the recent form of Ghana especially after the 3-0 defeat against Japan in a friendly.