Sports
2022 WC Qualifiers: Ghana Advised To Strengthen Team For Nigeria
Former Ghana international Stephen Frimpong-Manso has advised the Black Stars’ technical team to look beyond Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew for the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria.
Ayew has been Ghana’s lead striker since 2015 but his struggle to consistently find the back of the net for both club and country has brought his position in the Black Stars under scrutiny.
The four-time African champions, who had a disappointing time at the recent Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon, are set to host familiar rivals Nigeria over two legs on March 25 and 29 in a battle for a ticket to Qatar 2022.
“Our biggest headache is the attack, where Jordan Ayew has proved that he cannot be relied upon to handle it, hence the need for the Black Stars coach to look for other options as we meet Nigeria in our last World Cup qualifier,” Frimpong-Manso, famous for his exploits with Asante Kotoko during his playing career, told the Media.
“Our left-back position is also a cause of worry, and against Nigeria who have sharp wingers, there is the need for the coach to address that area holistically.
“We need reliable defenders at our laterals to hold the wings of Nigeria based on the output of the Black Stars at AFCON.
“We need another look at our left-back and right-backs, so we need to do everything to convince Southampton centre-back Mohammed Salisu, and Brentford’s Tarique Fosu to play against Nigeria.
“Another weakness with the Black Stars is the goalkeeping department where Joseph Wollacott performed below average in the Afcon.
“His output in Cameroun showed that he has to give way to other goalkeepers, and it is Richard Attah of Hearts of Oak who readily comes to mind. If Razak Abalora is in form, he should also be invited to join Attah.”
Interim Ghana’s head coach Otto Addo is yet to announce his squad for the upcoming double header but Ayew is expected to make the roster.
The attacker, who made his Black Stars debut in 2010, featured at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil and at multiple AFCON finals.
Meanwhile, Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Council member, Tony Aubyn, has explained why the Black Stars squad which will face Nigeria later this month is yet to be released.
Ghanaians have no idea which players have been invited to take on the Super Eagles with 10 days left before the first-leg encounter which will be played at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium in Ghana on March 24.
By contrast, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has already released their squad on March 4, with the Super Eagles set to host the Black Stars Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Nigeria on March 27 in the second-leg clash.
“The reason why the squad has not been released is a technical decision backed by management,” Dr Aubyn said.
“We recently formed the technical team and the management team and I’m sure they have a reason why and they have their own time lines. It is for a good reason.
“I cannot explain even though I’m in the EXCO. We have given them the responsibility to the technical team,” he continued.
“I believe that the squad will be announced soon and I can’t tell how soon because I don’t know the timeline.”
Ghana have a new head coach in Otto Addo, who is a former Black Stars player, having been appointed last month.
Thierry Henry has called for the return of the away goals rule in the aftermath of the bombastic Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona.
The visitors at the Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys came within milimeters of clinching the first leg of the final-four clash after former Arsenal star Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted late in the second-half.
But the linesman was quick to raise his flag, and semi-automated offside ruled out what would have been a thrilling conclusion to the high-octane 3-3 draw.
The hosts came from behind twice to share the spoils, chasing Inter Milan from the first minute of the game after Marcus Thuram stunned the Barcelona faithful into silence with his neatly flicked goal.
Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s lead 20 minutes later, but it took just three more for the Blaugrana to finally get on the scoresheet courtesy of a moment of magic from teenage starlet Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres drew Barcelona level ahead of the break, but Lamal was forced to play catch-up again in the second-half after Dumfries scored his second.
In light of the impressive effort from Inter, Henry wondered if the team should have got more from the fixture ahead of the second-leg at the San Siro.
‘I know it’s been like that for a very time, and we have to accept it,’ Henry said of the removal of the away goals rule, ‘But off air I was talking to Jamie (Carragher), and I was like, “how can you score three goals away from home and you don’t have an advantage?”
‘Away goals for me were massive, you score three goals away and you still don’t have an advantage 0-0 at home,’ Henry shrugged.
UEFA took the decision to scrap the rule which gave goals scored away from home the ability to act as a tiebreaker in the case of level scorelines ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger claimed during his time as Arsenal manager in 2015 that the away goals rule ‘encouraged the team at home not to attack’ and that ‘the weight of the away goal (was) too big today’.
Without the rules, the tie at San Siro will go to extra time and penalties to decide which teams books their spot in the Champions League final.
But based on Wednesday evening’s performance, Henry seemed to give Inter a fighting chance against the newly minted Copa del Rey champions.
The 2025 London Marathon set a new world record for the number of finishers despite hot conditions on Sunday for its 45th edition.
A total of 56,640 runners crossed the finish line at the end of the 26.2-mile route, Guinness World Records has confirmed.
The number surpassed the previous record of 55,646 set by the New York Marathon in November.
Hugh Brasher, chief executive of London Marathon Events, said he hoped the high number of finishers inspired people to apply for the 2026 race ballot.
“The London Marathon was already the most popular in terms of ballot entries, with 840,318 people applying for the 2025 race,” he said.
“It is also the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event with more than £1.3bn raised for charity since 1981.”
The number of people applying for the ballot to enter this year’s race broke the world record of 578,304 for the 2024 edition.
Of UK applicants 49% were female, while there was a 105% increase in applications from people aged between 20-29.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa surged to victory in the elite women’s race in a world record for a women’s only field, while Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe triumphed in the men’s event.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has said that his side will have to do something special in Paris if they are to reach the Champions League final following defeat in their semi-final first leg.
Ousmane Dembele’s early strike at the Emirates leaves the Gunners needing to overturn a one-goal deficit against Paris St-Germain in the second leg at the Parc des Princes next week.
It was an ultimately frustrating night for Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, who failed to convert any of their five shots on target.
“If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special. We’re going to have to do something special in Paris to be there,” Arteta said.
PSG dominated the opening 20 minutes of the match and, while the hosts grew into the game, they continued to be frustrated by the French side’s solid defence, failing to score in a home Champions League match for the first time since February 2016.
“We have a lot of chances to be in that final. As I repeat myself, you have to do something special in the competition to have the right to be in the final. And the time to do it is going to be in Paris,” said Arteta.
Arsenal have not reached the final since 2005-06 while PSG are hunting a first Champions League trophy.
As they did against Liverpool and Aston Villa earlier in the campaign, Luis Enrique’s side relied on Italian keeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma to keep them out of trouble.
The 26-year-old kept a clean sheet and made five saves – including important stops to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in one-on-one situations.
“At the end, we have two of our front players one v one with Donnarumma. If they scored the goal it is different. He made the saves, like he did against Liverpool and Villa, and that’s the difference in the Champions League,” Arteta said.
But Enrique says the shot-stopper was just doing his job.
“That’s the work of a goalkeeper, no? Save the team, they work every day for that. In a semi-final, you need all the players,” the Spaniard said.