Cameroon rout Meteors in Accra
GHALC rescinds decision to boycott league
Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March
2000
By J. Evans Owusu
For now Ghana will have to accept
that its soccer is in shambles and look for a timely remedy to curtail any
further downward slip.
At the Accra Stadium on Sunday the
nation’s Olympic team, the Black Meteors, were not only outplayed in their
Group B encounter with Cameroon, a side that once held them in high esteem, but
were also humiliated with a 3-0 score that left the Ghanaians out of the Sydney
2000 Olympics.
And it took Cameroon’s CAN 2000
Cup winning hero, Samuel Eto O’ Fils two personal strikes plus another of which
he was the chief architect to dent the pride of the Ghanaians before a home
crowd.
The game was barely 24 minutes old
when Fils capitalised on a defensive lapse by Ghana’s Issah Rahman to drive a
tricky one from an acute angle towards goal. Goalkeeper Sammy Adjei did well to
place himself in the direction of the ball but it bounced off his body and
zoomed into the net for the opening goal to the visitors.
Six minutes later, Ghana’s Peter
Ofori Quaye nearly pulled even for his side when he managed to beat the
Cameroonian goalie but the striker watched in dismay as his goal- bound was
scooped from the goal-line by Cameroon’s Patrice Abanda.
The game then became a ding-dong
battle with occasional breakthroughs by each side. However, the score-line
remained the same to end the half with the visitors protecting their solitary
score.
Back from recess the Cameroon
engine was on and tormentor-in-chief, Eto O’ Fills exploited a weakness on the
right half of the Ghanaian defence to put one through to unmarked Albert Neyong
to score his side’s second in the 79th minute.
Whatever opposition, the Ghanaians
were offering seemed to have thinned out after the goal as Cameroon had a field
day to do as they pleased with the ball. It was therefore no wonder that three
minutes after the second goal, Eto O’ Fils, on a solo effort wove his way
through a forest of legs to slam in the third goal for his side to complete the
rout for the afternoon.
South Africa trounced Guinea 4-1 in the other Group B match to take second place ahead of Ghana who finished at a disappointing third. However, with South African’s position as the best of the second placed teams, they will take on New Zealand in a play-off to determine which of them goes to the Olympics.
Guinea remained at the bottom of the four-nation league, having lost all the five matches that they played.
In the other matches, Nigeria
scored an authoritative 4-0 victory over Zimbabwe at the weekend to bring them
to the top of Group A and through to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Angola defeated Uganda 1-0 to
place second in the Group behind Nigeria and ahead of Zimbabwe who had led the
table until the final matches.
In Group C Morocco qualified ahead
of Egypt and Cote d'Ivoire when they won 2-1 in their final match against Cote
d'Ivoire at home.
Egypt who placed second beat
Tunisia 3-0 in the other game, leaving Tunisia bottom placed in the Group.
GRi../
Standings at the
end of final matches:
Team P W D
L F A Pts. Team P W D
L F A Pts.
Group A Group B
Nigeria 6 4 0
2 12 7 12 Cameroon 6 5 0
1 12 4 15
Angola 6 4 0
2 13 9 12 S. Africa 6 4 1
1 12 6 13
Zimbabwe 6 4 0
2 11 11 12
Ghana 6 2
1 3 7 9 7
Uganda 6 0 0
6 3 12 0 Guinea 6 0 0
6 4 16 0
Team P W D
L F A Pts.
Group C
Morocco 6 4 1 1 11 8 13
Egypt 6 3 2 1 11 7 11
C. d'Ivoire 6 2 2 2 13 10 8
Tunisia 6 0 1 5 5 15 1
GRi.../
Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2000
The Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) said on Friday that it has rescinded its decision to boycott the ABC Premier League and said it would honour the fourth week matches on Wednesday 29 March instead of Saturday 25th.
Mr J. Y. Appiah, Chairman of GHALCA told the press after a closed door meeting with officials of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) that the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr E. T. Mensah has agreed to disassociate himself fully from the domestic league.
GHALCA had earlier threatened to boycott, citing too much interference from the Sports Minister, which, the Association said, threatened the healthy growth of Ghana’s football.
He said the GFA through the Professional League Board would have the prerogative of organising and supervising the League.
Alhaji M. N. D. Jawula, Chairman of GFA said although the minister did not put his assurance into writing as demanded by GHALCA, he is optimistic that he (minister) would stick to his word.
GHALCA on Monday threatened to boycott the rest of the league matches because of the minister's continued interference in the league.
They advocated, among other things, that the GFA should take full control of the domestic programme and that the issuance of complimentary tickets by the minister should cease.
GRi.../
Kumasi(Ashanti Region) 28 March 2000
The short-listing of Ghana’s athletic team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics starts with a national meet at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Thursday, holding promises of fireworks for fans that will throng the pitch to watch the event.
The three-day championship will bring to the fore Helena Amoako, Dora Manu, Veronica Bawuah amd Vida Anim among other females in the sprints to vie for inclusion in the Olympic team.
Also expected to give classic performances are Abu Duah, Amoako, Richard Agyepong and Henry Bannerman whose determination to qualify for Sydney should provide excitement for the men’s events.
There would also be the likes of Patience Dzato, Evelyn Harvey, Esther Johnson, and Edward Abayateye to exhibit their skills.
According to a source close to the Ghana Amateur Athletics Association, selected athletes will represent the nation at the forthcoming special four-nation championship in Cote d’Ivoire and the All Africa Seniors championships thereafter.
The athletes will later join up with Leo Myles Mills, Andrew Owusu, Eric Nkansah and Mark Athony Awere for the Sydney Games.
GRi../