Black Meteors host the Amagluglug on Sunday
Black Meteors host the Amagluglug on Sunday
Ghana’s Olympic team, the Black Meteors, come face to face with their South African counterparts, the Amagluglug, at the Accra Sports stadium on Sunday in the opening match of the Sydney 2000 Olympic games qualifying series.
This will be the third time that the two nations are combating each at the competitive level. The first was the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa where the Bafana Bafana beat the Black Stars 3 - 0 at the semi-final stage. Then at the Under-20 championships in Morocco, the Satellites were edged out of the juvenile competition through a penalty shoot out also at the semi-finals.
To reverse the trend of losses the Meteors are approaching this game with all the seriousness that it deserves and the technical men are determined to present one of the best sets to tame the ‘Amagluglug’ on Sunday.
Head coach, Guisseppe Dossena is leaving no stone unturned as he has taken the team through a series of trials in readiness for the match. The Italian football technocrat has also invited six professionals from Europe to beef up the team mostly in midfield and attack. Already in camp are Peter Ofori Quaye, Skelly Adu Tutu, Azziz Ansah, Baffour Gyan, Issah Rahman and defender George Blay who is yet to arrive. These players would be paraded alongside the likes of Gordon Ablordey, Osei Kwame and Kwame Ali Mouas to do the damage to the Amagluglug.
" The South Africans, we learnt are a formidable side with some of their players plying their trade in Europe. We know they will give us a stiff opposition but we should win at the end" coach Dossena told fans who gathered at the Stadium to witness the Meteors train on Thursday.
Meanwhile the South African Olympic team arrives Friday minus crack players such as Quinton Fortune of Manchester United, Delron Buckley of Bochum and Steve Lekoelea of Orlando Pirates. To be missing from their line up also will be the 1998 Cup of Nations goalking Benny McCarthy, who has announced his premature retirement from the national side due to club commitments.
Even with these worries hanging over his head, coach Moshaba of the Amaglglug says he is unperturbed and is hopeful of unsettling the Ghanaians in their own backyard.
The current line-up boasts of Norway-based safe hands, Emile Baron, and Aaron Mokoena of Ajax Amsterdam fame whose presence in their games earlier enhanced their onward match to this stage.
The South Africans are also motivated by the fact that despite the success of their senior team on the international scene, the junior national squads have made little impression. Recently the placed third in the All Africa games soccer competition which they hosted. To them qualification to the Sydney games is the perfect opportunity to showcase their brand of soccer at the junior level to the world. Beating Ghana is the first stepping stone.
Judging from the determination and the enthusiasm oozing from both camps, an afternoon of good football is anticipated with the Meteors having an edge.
In the other Group B match, Guinea will lock horns with Cameroon in Conakry in what is seen as a dicey encounter. Cameroun are currently the African champions at the Under-23 level but are likely to face stiff opposition from a Guinean side that anxious to recapture to the good days of Guinean soccer.
In Group A, Uganda hosts Zimbabwe in Kampala with Nigeria playing at home to Angola. The Group C matches will see Tunisia playing against Cote d’Ivoire at the Tunisian capital of Tunis while Morocco and Egypt resume old rivalry when they clash in Rabat.
The teams that top their groups will represent African at the Sydney Olympics.
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The ‘Uniteds’ make strides
Accra (Greater Accra), 15th October 99
It was a day for the ‘Uniteds’ as Brong Ahafo United, Asuom Kwaebibirim United and Obuasi Adansiman United respectively won the third day matches of the five-leg Division One Middle League to put them tops of the table.
While B.A United and Kwaebibirim share the top spot with seven points each, Adansiman, who started the competition rather on a slow pace, shot themselves into third place with four points.
It was Adansiman who came out most impressive as they whitewashed much-fancied Cape Coast Vipers with a four nil victory at the Dawu Sports Stadium. ‘Apostles of power soccer’, Brong Ahafo United managed a hard fought 2-1 win over Arsenals of Berekum, while Kwaebibirim scored a similar victory over Suhum Maxbees at the Tema Sports Stadium.
With two more matches to go the battle is far from over for the two top clubs as Adansiman and Vipers at the third and fourth positions with four and three points respectively could cause an upset should any of the top teams slip. B.A United is yet to engage the might of Adansiman and Kwaebibirim in matches in which a win for one should affect the chances of another.
On Sunday when the penultimate matches would be honoured, Vipers who will attempt a recovery after the heavy loss on Wednesday, will face Kwaebibirim at Tema. It is a dicey situation as the circumstances at stake will provide for an uncompromising battle to be fought. Kwabibirim who seem to be growing used to Tema as their base should have an edge but any slip on their part would result in an unforgettable sting from Vipers.
At the Dawu Sports Stadium, B.A.United will come face to face with Adansiman in a battle that could go either way. B.A, who are in contention for qualification to the Premier division would attempt using their continued appearance at Dawu as an advantage over Adansiman, but they will first have to contend with the tournament's leading striker Oppong Kyekyeku from the opposing side.
The game between Maxbees and Arsenals would be played at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
Below are the standings of the clubs
Teams P W D L F A Pts. GD
Kwaebibirim 3 2 1 0 6 4 7 +2
B.A. United 3 2 1 0 4 2 7 +2
Adansiman 3 1 1 1 5 2 4 +3
Vipers 3 1 0 1 4 6 3 -2
Maxbees 3 0 2 1 2 3 2 -1
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