Maxbees beat Hearts to avoid relegation
Reebok keen to sign on Kuffour
Chinese club registers interest in Tony Yeboah
Soccer-Tunisia fear no one - coach Michel
Accra (Greater Accra) 03 December 2001 - Final results and standings of clubs after the 30th week Star Premier League matches.
Accra: Olympics 2 K'bibirem 0 Koforidua: Maxbees 2 Hearts 1
Kumasi: Faisal 4 Hasaacas 1 Tamale: RTU 2 Goldfield 0
Berekum: Arsenal 1 Okwahu 2 Dawu: Dawu 1 Ghapoha 2
Accra: Liberty 1 Kotoko 0 Obuasi: Adansiman 2 Bofoakwa 1
Standings:
Club Local/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Greater Accra 30 19 7 4 54 19 64 +33
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 30 19 4 8 43 15 55 +28
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 30 14 2 13 36 20 45 +16
Liberty Accra, Greater Accra 30 11 7 12 36 32 40 + 4
Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 30 10 10 10 26 26 40 0
Olympics Accra, Greater Accra 30 10 9 11 27 23 39 + 4
Okwahu Nkawkaw, Eastern 30 10 9 11 32 32 39 0
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 30 11 6 12 31 36 39 - 5
RTU Tamale, North 30 11 5 14 28 21 38 + 7
B. Arsenal Berekum, Brong Ahafo 30 11 6 12 24 36 38 -12
Maxbees Suhum, Eastern 30 11 4 15 30 55 37 -24
Adansiman Obuasi, Ashanti 30 10 5 15 33 49 35 - 16
Kwaebibirem Asuom, Eastern 30 8 5 17 20 43 29 -13
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NB: This is the final table released by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) after the 30th matches were honoured to close the 2001 Star Premier League and various rulings on protests before the GFAs courts. The table implies that Obuasi Adansiman and Asuom Kwaebibirem have been relegated to division one, while Tema Ghapoha will engage in a play-off with third placed team a national division middle league tournament yet to be honoured.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 03 December 2001 - A 37th minute header from young and enterprising midfielder David Boateng was all that Dansoman based club Liberty Professionals needed to beat Kumasi Asante Kotoko in the 30th week of the Star Premier League encounter at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday.
From the beginning of the game Liberty Professionals invaded the territory of Kotoko on three occasions but timely interventions by goalkeeper Osei Boateng denied them the opener.
In the 37th minute, Liberty had a throw in which was effectively taken and Boateng headed it in to register the first goal, which eventually became the match winner. Kotoko resumed the second half strongly but could not equalise. Their best chance came to Fuseini Adams but keeper Cudjoe made mince meat of his shot.
Liberty however did not relent in their search for the second goal as Ablade Morgan, Albert Batsa and Lawrence Quaye invaded the Kotoko area on several occasions.
In the 89th minute Liberty were nearly rewarded after a defensive blunder the part of Kotoko presented Ablade Morgan with an opportunity to score but goalkeeper Osei Boateng was once again brilliant.
Before kick off, Ablade Morgan of Liberty Professionals was presented with a ball for scoring a hat- trick in one their Star Premier League Matches. Mr. K. Ampem- Darko, Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association did the presentation.
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Tamale (Northern Region) 03 December 2001 - Real Tamale United (RTU) survived relegation when they beat Obuasi Goldfields 2-0 in their last match played at the Tamale Kaladan Park.
RTU who must win to remain in the Premiership, took control of the game from the start and made several incursions into Goldfields' goal area but Mike Robertson in post for the miners prevented them from conceding an early goal.
RTU kept up the pressure and in the 12th minute, they had a throw in taken by Nurudeen Wemah to Kovi Adzagba who lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper for Skipper Hamza Mohammed to register the first goal.
Goldfields took up the challenge and rallied round Nana Arhin Duah to keep the RTU goal area boiling but veteran Bobby Abdul Rahman and Alex Kyeremanteng kept the Goldfield attack at bay.
Against the turn of play, RTU increased the tally in the 65th minute through substitute Mohammed Baker. RTU had another opportunity to widen the score line in the 74th minute but Joseph Adjei wasted the opportunity.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 03 December 2001 - Wonder Club Accra Great Olympics finally nailed the coffin on Kwaebibirem with a 2-0 defeat at the Accra Sports Stadium.
By this result, Kwaebibirem are relegated from the premiership and will campaign in the first division next season. Olympics who looked poised to carry the day right from the start wasted all their chances, though Michael Asante came close in the 1st and 18th minutes.
In the 20th minute, Kwaebibirem's Adu Gyamfi was sent off for an early shower after the second assistant referee had drawn the centre referee's attention to an incident after Adu Gyamfi had been stretched off as a result of a bad tackle he had from an Olympics' defender.
Kwaebibirem however managed to hold their own against the Dade boys keeping a clean sheet till the end of the first half. After recess Olympics opened fire on the Asuom lads and it resulted in five corner kicks in two minutes. In one of their numerous moves a Kwaebibirem player handled the ball in the penalty box while attempting to clear it.
Referee J.B.K. Akposu instantly awarded Olympics a spot kick which goalkeeper David Sharpe converted to give Olympics a 56th minute leader. In the 71st minutes, David Eshun grabbed the second for Olympics after a one, two move initiated by Kwabena Dodzi.
GRi…/
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 03 December 2001 - King Faisal who picked up tremendous form towards the end of the Star Premier league played a good game to wallop Sekondi Hasaacas 4-1 at the Kumasi Sports Stadium to bring the curtain down on this year's league.
The homesters raced into a third minute lead through Joe Agyemang who tapped the ball into the net after goalkeeper George Owu had failed to grab a shot firmly.
This early lead gave King Faisal the needed tonic as they swarmed over their opponents but poor finishing robbed them of more goals. Faisal squandered all the good chances that came their way while Hasaacas made occasional incursions into the King Faisal territory but good defence work pivoted around veteran Emmanuel Ampiah kept them at bay.
In the 35th minute, King Faisal were just unlucky not to have increased their lead when Frank Osei's shot hit the post after goalkeeper Owu had been beaten.
Hasaacas substituted Yawson Atta who could not cope with the pressure for Yussif Issah in the 37th minute. But it was King Faisal who earned a penalty kick in the 38th minute when Frank Osei, who was racing towards goal was pulled down and Joe Agyemang converted the resultant kick.
On resumption, King Faisal continued their dominance and Frank Osei again hit the post after rounding up the Hasaacas defence. He was however on target in the 52th minute to raise his side's tally to three.
King Faisal pulled out Emmanuel Ampiah for Alhassan Illiasu in the 56th minute and Frank Osei scored the fourth goal a minute later after dribbling past the Hasaacas defenders.
Down by an incredible 4-0 margin, Hasaacas pulled themselves together and reduced the tally through Stephen Sekyere who headed home a cross from the left. Sekyere had another good opportunity to further reduce the tally for his side in the 80th minute but he shot wide.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 04 December 2001 - Suhum Maxbees beat champion club, Accra Hearts of Oaks 2-1 in their match played at the Koforidua Sports Stadium to ensure their stay in the premier division.
Despite their defeat, Hearts won this year's Star Premier League making them the winners of the league for the fifth consecutive time. Maxbees after several wasteful chances in the first half, managed to take the lead in the second half when Emmanuel Osei converted a penalty in the 56th minute.
Substitute Bart Plange crowned the effort of Maxbees in the 85th minute when he headed the ball into the net during a goalmouth melee, which assured the Suhum boys of their stay in the league the next season.
However, Hearts, conscious of their image scored a goal in the 87th minute through Kenneth Sarpong who shot the ball into the net after it had been fisted by Maxbees goalkeeper, Sammy Nartey.
After the match the trophy for this year's Star Premier league was presented to the captain of Hearts, Jacob Nartey by the Eastern regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo Mensah, who was assisted by the Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Mr Joe Aggrey.
The jubilant Hearts supporters thronged into the Koforidua township to celebrate their fifth title on the trot.
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Axing of C.K. Akunnor raises eyebrows
Accra (Greater Accra) 03 December 2001 - If there was one point of disagreement over the squad presented by national head coach Osam Duodu at the last Press Conference at the FA Secretariat last Friday, it was the conspicuous absence of the captain of the team C.K. Akunnor.
Coach Osam Duodu insists the list released was only provisional but that did not appease most of the sports journalists who wondered why C.K. could not be part of a large squad of 22, considering the fact that he is still very active in the bundesliga, forget about he being the captain of Wolfsbourg. If others are being given the chance to prove their mettle, why deny C.K. that opportunity, asks sports bi-weekly, Africa Sports.
Of course it is Osam Duodu who has his head on the chopping block and takes the final decisions. Hope he gets it alright in Mali.
Meanwhile, the Stars are expected to fly out today to meet Algeria on December 5. The local squad is expected to be beefed up the four foreign-based stars: George Blay (Belgium), Abdul Razak, John Mensah (Italy) and Techie Mensah.
After Wednesday’s friendly, the Stars are expected to play either Togo, Tunisia or Algeria on December 19, then play Mali on Christmas day December 25.
The team then flies out to Bilbao in Spain to play a select side on December 29. the Stars are expected to play their last Friendly on January 4, 2002 against Egypt after which Osam says he will name his final squad.
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Munich (Germany) 03 December 2001 - United States based kit manufacturers, Reebok, has shown keen interest in winning over Ghanaian defender, Samuel Osei Kuffour to take-on their brand of sports wear, particularly, their soccer boots.
Kuffour, who already holds a deal with the leading soccer kit manufacturers, Adidas is expected to make a decision about the latest move by Reebok, which is reportedly more lucrative than the Adidas deal.
Reebok is prepared to offer more than what the Ghanaian defender currently earns from wearing the Adidas football boots.
Meanwhile, Kuffour has dismissed reports linking him with a possible switch to Italian giants AC Milan maintaining that he is not interested in leaving Munich. With reports from Italy suggesting Milan is keen to sign-on the Ghanaian international, Kuffour has cleared the air, insisting: "Currently, I am not interested at all in any other side. What I really want is to fully concentrate on Bayern."
Ottmar Hitzfeld has also played down talk on a suggested move, saying: "This kind of talk is nothing new to us. You read stories like this one quite often. "But Sammy does not want to move, he really enjoys playing at Bayern."
The 25-year-old struck the winning goal in the intercontinental match against Boca Juniors of Argentina in Japan on Tuesday to help the Bavarian side to a double, having lifted the UEFA Champions League title last May.
He became the only Ghanaian player to have achieved such a feat since Abedi Pele, who won the Champions League with Marseille in 1993 but could not take part in the intercontinental match as the club was stripped of the title after being caught in a match-fixing scandal.
Kuffour, is favoured for the African Footballer of the Year title has pledged his commitment to Bayern-Munich and wants to concentrate on winning more trophies for it."
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First time live beam of Cup of Nations in
North America
New York (United States) 03 December 2001 - The African Nations Cup tournament will for the first time ever, be broadcast live in North America. The special arrangement by Setanta-Sport is to accommodate the large number of African soccer enthusiasts based in North America. Washington DC, New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Boston are areas expected to have massive interest. Setanta Sport will broadcast all matches Live to select international soccer bars in North America. Setanta Sport will also commit itself to set up additional special venues for these crucial games.
The qualified teams and the groupings are as follows:
GROUP A: Mali, Nigeria, Algeria, Liberia.
GROUP B: South Africa, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Morocco.
GROUP C: Cameroon, DR Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo.
GROUP D: Egypt, Tunisia Zambia, Senegal.
Setanta's broadcast of the 23rd African Nations Cup will be according to the schedule below. All times shown represent Eastern Mean Time in New York and Boston and not GMT.
Sat-Jan 19
Mali vrs Liberia 11.00AM ET.
Sun-Jan 20
Egypt vrs Senegal 10.30AM ET.
Sun-Jan 20
Cameroon vrs DR Congo 12.30PM ET.
Sun-Jan 20
S. Africa vrs Burkina Faso 14.30PM ET.
Mon-Jan 21
Algeria vrs Nigeria 11.00AM ET.
Mon-Jan 21
Morocco vrs Ghana 15.00PM ET.
Mon-Jan 21
Zambia vrs Tunisia 17.00PM ET.
Mon-Jan 21
Togo vrs Ivory Coast 13.00PM ET
Thu-Jan 24
Ghana vrs S. Africa 11.00AM ET.
Thu-Jan 24
Mali v Nigeria 14.00PM ET
Fri-Jan 25
Egypt vrs Tunisia 10.30AM ET
Fri-Jan 25
Cameroon vrs Ivory Coast 12.30PM ET.
Fri-Jan 25
Liberia vrs Algeria 14.30PM ET.
Sat-Jan 26
Senegal vrs Zambia 14.30PM ET.
Sat-Jan 26
Burkina Faso vrs Morocco 10.30AM ET.
Sat-Jan 26
DR Congo v Togo 12.30PM ET
Mon-Jan 28
Mali vrs Algeria 15.00PM ET
Mon-Jan 28.
Liberia vrs Nigeria 13.00PM ET
Tue-29 Jan
Cameroon vrs Togo 11.00AM ET
Tue-29
Jan DR Congo vrs Ivory Coast 13.00PM ET
Wed-30 Jan
Morocco vrs South Africa 13.00PM ET
Wed-30 Jan
Burkina Faso vrs Ghana 11.00AM ET
Thu-31 Jan
Egypt vrs Zambia 13.00PM ET
Thu-31 Jan
Senegal vrs Tunisia 11.00AM ET
Quarter-Finals:
Sun-3 Feb
Winner Group A vrs Runner up Group B 14.00PM ET
Sun-3 Feb
Winner Group D vrs Runner up Group C 11.00AM ET
Mon-4 Feb
Winner Group C vrs Runner up Group D 11.00AM ET
Mon-4 Feb
Winner Group B vrs Runner up Group A 14.00AM ET
Semi-Finals:
Thu-7 Feb
Winner 1 vrs Winner 2 11.00AM ET
Thu-7 Feb
Winner 3 vrs Winner 4 14.00PM ET
Third-place play off:
Sat-9 Feb
Loser Semi vrs Loser Semi 11.00AM ET
Final:
Sun-10 Feb Winner 5 vrs Winner. 6 11.00AM ET
GRi…/
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Hamburg (Germany) 03 December 2001 - Chinese premier club, Shandong FC has also joined the fray to sign-on the favoured Ghanaian striker, Anthony Yeboah of German club, HSV Hamburg.
Shandong, which also has another Ghanaian player, wonder kid, Nii Odartey Lamptey in their fold, hope to seal a deal with the former, Black Stars deputy skipper during the European transfer market, which reopens after the winter break.
The Chinese club would face stiff opposition from Italian Serie A club, Fiorentina, who have expressed their interest in the Ghanaian and prepared to sign him on for six months. The third club interested in Yeboah in from the United Arab Emirates. Media reports indicate that, it might be Al-Itithad.
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Inter-Milan enters negotiations with Gargo
Italian Serie A club, Inter Milan is almost certain to sign-on Ghanaian defender, Mohammed Gargo from fellow Serie A side, Udinese.
The negotiations which about sealed, begun after both clubs played in the Italian Cup match which ended 2-2, even though Udinese has advanced to the next stage of the competition.
It is highly believed that, Inter would sign on the Ghanaian very soon because of the advanced stage of the negotiations.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 03 December 2001 - The search for kits producers to clothe the senior national team, the Black Stars for CAN 2002 seems over as the German Sports Wear Company, Adidas is in the pole position to get the nod of the Ghana Football
Association.
Briefing the press on Friday Mr Kojo Quarshie, Co-ordinator of the Black Stars Management Committee, said, even though, no agreement had been signed, proposals so far examined pointed to Adidas.
He stated that three companies, Adidas, L-Sporto and Nike put in bids but only the first two brought proposals, which included equipment, financial and technical assistance.
"Initially we submitted our own jersey design to them but none was in the position to produce it considering the limited time. We accepted the Adidas design but asked for some alteration in the colours to be in line with the national colours.
"We then subjected the samples to technical evaluation, after which we demanded to speak with the principal actors instead of their local agents. But it was only Adidas that sent in a high powered delegation whiles all attempts to contact L-Sporto officials proved futile."
On the financial aspect of the two deals, he said L-Sporto offered 290,000 dollars in bonuses starting from the preliminary stages while Addidas offered 300,000 dollars in bonuses starting from the semi-finals stage.
Mr Quarshie said initially the FA wanted the French Coach Claude Leroy to beef up the technical team so they tried to tie it to the clothing package but none of them was in the position to fulfil that aspect and it had to be dropped.
On other sponsorship packages, Mr Quarshie said they had a non-monetary package with the Coca Cola to supply some of their products to the team but would embark on another deal to exploit the possibility of more rewarding packages.
Guinness the team's main sponsors on Wednesday unveiled a 450-million cedi package for the Mali tournament of which 100 million cedis would go into preparation, 100 million cedis to be paid as bonuses and the rest to cover TV coverage.
He said the FA was forming a consortium with Guinness to exploit the possibility of making other companies to advertise their products on the television during the matches for which Guinness holds the sole right in Ghana.
Agreements with Ghana Airways and State Insurance Corporation (SIC) had reached advanced stages, he said.
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Pusan (South Korea) 04 December 2001 - Referees will be allowed to display adverts on their shirts in both domestic and international club matches, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Friday.
But no adverts will be worn by referees in the 2002 World Cup finals or other international matches following a decision taken by FIFA's Executive Committee.
Adverts will be allowed only on the sleeves of the referee's shirts and have a maximum area of 200 square centimetres. FIFA's general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen explained: "Referees will have the right to wear adverts at club competition
Level, which includes domestic club and international club matches.
"Obviously they will not be able to advertise alcoholic beverages or casinos or such like and they will not be allowed to carry adverts on the fronts or backs of their shirts."
FIFA president Blatter has long advocated the introduction of professional referees in an attempt to raise standards of officiating at the highest level.
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Paris (France) 04 December 2001 - Champions France will not make the mistake of underestimating World Cup newcomers Senegal in the opening match of next year's finals against their former colony.
The game on May 31 will hold special significance for French midfielder Patrick Vieira who was born in Senegal, while most of the African country's squad play their club football in France.
France captain Marcel Desailly said his team's experience against South Africa in the group stages of the 1998 finals was a reminder of the growing threat from African teams.
France beat South Africa 3-0 in their first match in group C with the help of two own goals on home soil in 1998, but the second goal did not arrive until 12 minutes from time.
"I hope we will make a good start in this World Cup with a victory as I'm certain the first game will be crucial", said Desailly. "Senegal have great potential and we must remember it was a little bit difficult to beat the South Africans in our first match four years ago. But it's interesting to take on another African team."
"Against Senegal, there will be a lot of folklore and joy, they have a lot of very good players. We're happy to start against Senegal," he said.
French playmaker Zinedine Zidane said it was likely to be a hard battle against Senegal in Seoul but admitted he knew little about their style of play. "We can expect a tough physical challenge. We know how the African teams play," said the 2000 world player of the year. "We know very little about them. Senegal have never played in the World Cup and this is the opening match so it will be very important for them."
Senegal beat France 2-0 in a friendly international in Dakar in 1963, according to Senegalese Football Federation records. More recently, Frank Leboeuf, Youri Djorkaeff and Christian Karembeu, who all became full internationals, played for a
France 'B' team in a 3-1 win also in Dakar in 1993.
"(Senegal coach) Bruno Metsu has been trained in France so I always fear the worst," France coach Roger Lemerre said. "This match will set the tone of the whole competition."
Desailly said he was confident France would make it through to the second stage from group A, which also contains Denmark and Uruguay. If France make the last 16 they will face one of the teams from group F, already dubbed the 'Group of Death', containing Argentina, England, Sweden and Nigeria.
"We cannot complain if you compare our draw with the England group, but we're moderately satisfied," added Desailly. "Denmark is the most difficult team in our group but Senegal could be a surprise," the Chelsea defender added.
Senegal's Jean-Francois Bocande said he was delighted by the prospect of facing the world champions. "We were joking with the guys saying that we could face France in the first round. "They (the players) said it would be great to be in the same group as France. Now it's done," Bocande said.
"We can finish first or second in this group as we don't have anything to lose. The pressure will on the French shoulders. And the guys will have extra motivation. It's going to be a great game."
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Tunis (Tunisia) 04 December 2001 - Outsiders Tunisia will play with light hearts and an attitude of having nothing to lose when they take on Japan and hardened European sides Belgium and Russia in their World Cup group next year.
"We don't fear our group (rivals). We're counting on a young and determined team and the support of our public to obtain good results," Tunisia's French coach Henri Michel said after the draw was made for the 2002 finals on Saturday.
Tunisia, in the finals for the second time after first playing in Argentina in 1978, will be based in Japan where they meet Russia in their opening group H game in Kobe on June 5.
The African nation will play Belgium in Oita on June 10 and Japan, who are jointly staging the tournament with South Korea, in Osaka on June 14.
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