Avram Grant To Arrive In Ghana Soon

Avram Grant, head coach of the senior national team, Black Stars will return to Ghana this weekend to prepare for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Mauritius.

The Israeli left the country early last month after the Ghana Football Association (GFA) granted him the permission to continue with his monitoring programme in Europe for the later part of the European season.

The former Chelsea manager was expected to spend ‘few weeks’ monitoring players outside Ghana whilst his assistant coach, Maxwell Konadu monitors the local league for other talents.

The pair have invited 23 players — three of which are from the domestic scene who are expected to start non-residential camping today, and begin training on Monday.

Avram Grant, per the GFA statement released last month, will not be monitoring players abroad after the qualifier against Mauritius.

“Mr Grant will focus on monitoring the local league for new talents while supporting the activities of the other national teams on his return,” a portion last month’s statement read.

Ghana need a point in the next two matches to book a ticket to Gabon for the continent’s fiesta.

Avram Grant To Arrive In Ghana Soon

Ghana To Leave For Mauritius Next Week

The senior national team of Ghana, Black Stars will leave the country for Mauritius on Wednesday for the 2017 Africa Cup Nations qualifier against the Les Dodos.

The four time Africa had scheduled a friendly match against the Syli National of Guinea on Saturday as part of preparations for the qualifier, but the game was cancelled on Monday after Gunea Football Federation (GFA) to pulled out.

The cancellation of the match has forced the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the technical team to revise to their notes.

The team will train three time — from Monday to Wednesday at the Accra sports before departing to the East African country.

The team will hold two training sessions at the Anjalay Stadium in Mapou before honouring the game on Sunday.

A point for the Black Starsw will secure qualification to the Afcon which will be held in Gabon next year.

Ghana To Leave For Mauritius Next Week

Partey Named In Black Stars Squad

Three players have been handed their maiden Black Stars call ups for next month’s 2017 AFCON qualifiers against Mauritius.

Coach Avram Grant named Ashantigold defender Mohammed Kadri and Kazakhstan based forward Patrick Twumasi in the 23-man squad which is expected to begin training in Accra on Monday May 30.

Athletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey will also join the senior national team for the first time as they go into the qualifying match against Mauritius next Sunday.

Andre Ayew returns to the squad and will step in as skipper of the side in the absence of captain Asamoah Gyan who is out due to injury.

The team is expected to leave Accra on Wednesday to Mauritius for the game to be played at the Belle Vue.

Ghana is leading Group H with 10 points and a point in Mauritius will seal their place at next year’s AFCON in Gabon.

Below is the full 23-man squad:

Goalkeepers: Razak Braimah (Cordoba, Spain), Fatau Dauda (AshantiGold), Richard Ofori (Wa All Stars)

Defenders: Harrison Afful (Columbus Crew, USA), Daniel Amartey (Leicester City, England), Jeffery Schlupp (Leicester City, England), Baba Rahman (Chelsea, England), John Boye (Sivasspor, Turkey), Jonathan Mensah (Anzhi, Russia), Edwin Gyimah (Orlando Pirates, South Africa), Kadri Mohammed (AshantiGold)

Midfielders: Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Udinese, Italy), Afriyie Acquah (Torino, Italy), Thomas Partey (Athletico Madrid, Spain) Samuel Tetteh (WAFA), Mubarak Wakaso (Las Palmas, Spain), Frank Acheampong (Anderlecht, Belgium), Alfred Duncan (Sassuolo, Italy), Christian Atsu (Malaga, Spain)

Forwards: Andre Ayew (Swansea City, Wales), Jordan Ayew (Aston Villa, England), Ebenezer Assifuah (Sion, Switzerland), Patrick Twumasi (FC Astana, Kazakhstan).

Partey Named In Black Stars Squad

Guinea Announce Friendly With Ghana

Guinea have announced an international friendly date with Ghana.

The Syli National will play the Black Stars in France later this month.

The match has been set for Saturday May 28, 2016 at the Stade de la Licorne d’Amiens, according to Guinea Federation.

Ghana FA is yet to communicate the agreement, its Guinea counterpart, the FGF confirmed the arrangement on Wednesday stating that Luis Fernandez side will use the international friendly as a preparatory for their must win Afcon 2017 qualifier against Swaziland scheduled for June 5.

According to the FGF, Guinea coach Fernandez and his technical team rejected a proposal to play Egypt in favour of a date with the Black Stars.

Coach Avram Grant on the other hand will use the friendly to test the Black Stars’ readiness for their penultimate 2017 Nations Cup qualifier away to Mauritius.

Ghana top Group H of the qualifiers with 10 points.

The May 28 date will be the fourth game between the two sides over the past two years. They recently met twice in the qualifiers to Afcon 2015 and at the quarterfinals of the tournament proper.

Guinea Announce Friendly With Ghana

Grant Rues Missed Chances

Ghana Black Stars coach Avram Grant has bemoaned his players inability to score against Mozambique in their zero-all stalemate.

The Black Stars wasted glorious opportunities to win the game in Maputo on Sunday, but Ebenezer Assifuah, Jordan Ayew, Jonathan Mensah, Majid Waris, Jeffrey Schlupp and Alfred Duncan all failed to beat the goalkeeper when the chances fell their way.

Grant hoped for win as that is always the ambition of the team, but he is satisfied with a point to keep the driving seat on the race to Gabon 2017.

“We created a lot of chances to win the game but we didn’t score and at the end we took one point and we have 10 points now. So it depends on us to qualify as that is what we want,” Grant said in a post-match press conference.

“We played to win the game and created enough chances to win and we could have won the game. We played like we did in the first game but we did some few changes to the tactics because a key player was injured.

“The players who played instead of them were fighting to win but you cannot always win,” he said.

Ghana is still the summit of Group H with 10 points having gone four games unbeaten.

Grant Rues Missed Chances

Wasteful Black Stars Draw Blank In Maputo

The Black Stars of Ghana drew blank in the second leg of their Africa Cup of nations qualifier against Mozambique.

Avram Grant made four changes to his side that drew the first of the double header in Accra last week Thursday, replacing Christian Atsu, Mubarak Wakaso, Frank Acheampong and Majid Waris.

Ebenezer Assifuah started upfront ahead of Waris, Alfred Duncan and Agyemang Badu joined Afriyie Acquah in midfield, whilst the back five remained unchanged.

Ghana started on a bright note and had all the plethora of opportunities to beat the Mozambiqans.

Glorious goal scoring chances fell the way of former U-20 World Cup golden boot winner, Ebenezer Assifuah, but the Sion FC fluffed the chances.

The OS Mambas who were very confident all afternoon, looked to use the wings to their benefit, but Baba Rahman and Harrison Afful were too strong to be beaten.

Coach Abel Xavier went for penetration through the middle, but the Stsrs’ were compact and muffled all their threats, giving Razak Braimah in post a holiday in the first half.

The second department of the game was not different from the first. The Black Stars probed all the questions but were nemesis if themselves. Th goal begged for a ball, but Jordan, and Alfred Duncan all failed to make the chances count.

Avram Grant brought on Majid Waris to replace the Ebenezer Assifuah who limped off, but the FC Lorient striker was a pale shadow of himself. His movement into space for ball was zero just as having the ball at his feet.

Ghana huffed and puffed for the the break through, with Baba Rahman and Jordan Ayew all making poor decisions in the final third of the pitch.

Chelsea left back Baba Rahman chose a cut back when he could have powered the beyond the goalkeeper, whilst Jordan Ayew chose to set up Alfred Duncan, after dummying his opponent.

Duncan’s shot was well saved, after taking a deflection. At the other end of the pitch,  frustrated OS Mambas, challenges were were becoming hefty and the referee booked Simao Mate Junior for  a lunge on John Boye.

Ghana almost had the final say when a dinking corner fell to Jeffery Schlupp, but the Fox miscued his shot.

In the end, Ghana drop points, but the road to Gabon is still bright as the result gives the Stars 10 points in four qualifying matches.

Wasteful Black Stars Draw Blank In Maputo

Why GFA Paid To Watch Black Stars Afcon Qualifier

Members of the Ghana Football Association paid to watch the Black Stars Afcon 2017 qualifier against Mozambique on Thursday.

The National Sports Authority(NSA) provides tickets for members of the country’s football governing body during matches.

The Sports Authority made tickets available for the FA Executives for the Black Stars Afcon 2017 qualifier against Mozambique, but the Sports Ministry ordered that the tickets should not be released to the FA until they are endorsed by the Sports Minister.

According to sportscrusader.com sources, the FA had no qualms with the Ministry’s decision to endorse tickets for the association, but they waited for the tickets and they were not forthcoming.

With less than hour to kick off, the tickets were still not available and so tgey compelled to buy tickets to watch the game.

The tickets were finally brought few minutes to kick off, when they were already at the stadium.

Sources at the FA described the situation as a ‘sad’ one, but won’t comment further.

The FA do not intend to ask questions why their tickets were delayed.

Why GFA Paid To Watch Black Stars Afcon Qualifier

Black Stars To Leave For Maputo Tomorrow

The Black Stars of Ghana will leave for Maputo on Friday for the second leg of the Afcon 2017 qualifier against Mozambique.

Ghana hosted the first of the double header at the Accra Sports Stadium on Thursday, and the team will fly to Mozambique on Friday morning to honour the second encounter on Sunday.

A 30-man contingent made up of players and officials are expected to fly to Mozambique.

Black Stars Management Committee chairman, George Afriyie will not be part of th contingent. His deputy, Wilfred Osei Palmer will step in for him.

Some players are likely to be dropped. The injury situation in camp will be assessed before the coach names his final squad that will travel tomorrow.

Black Stars To Leave For Maputo Tomorrow

Agyemang Badu Hopeful Of A Win In Maputo

The Black Stars midfielder, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu is hopeful the team will secure win in Maputo on Sunday in the second leg of the 2017 AFCON qualifier.

Ghana defeated Mozambique 3-1 at the Accra Sports Stadium, the first a twin Afcon 2017 qualifier, but the OS Mambas were never a walk over.

Agyemang Badu believes the team struggled in the first half due to the poor condition of the pitch, but recovered well to see off the game.

“I think the first half was a bit difficult and we were having problems with the pitch too but we managed to control the game,” the udinese midfielder said in a post-match press conference.

“In the second half we just continued with what we had to do and we managed to win, so congratulations to my colleagues and the fans who came to stadium and helped us to win,” he said.

The former U-20 World Cup winner reckon the second encounter scheduled for Sunday in Maputo will be difficult, but they have enough quality to to win.

“I know the second leg will be difficult as you can see from the game, they showed here today that they are a good side but with the quality and commitment that we have in camp, we will kill the game there and qualify the nation to Afcon 2017, ” he said.

Ghana sit top of GroupH with 9 points.

Agyemang Badu Hopeful Of A Win In Maputo

Match Report: Ghana 3-1 Mozambique

The Black Stars of Ghana continued their impressive run to Gabon 2017 with 3-1 victory over Mozambique on Thursday afternoon at the Accra Sports Stadium.

An early goal from Frank Acheampong in the first half, John Boye’s fortuitous header, and Jordan Ayew’s volley in the second half was enough to make it three out of three for the four times African champions in their race to Gabon 2017.

Mozambique pulled one back through substitute Apson Manjete, but it was not enough to earn the Mambas a favourable result for the second encounter in Maputo next Sunday.

Ghana began the game on the front foot, exerting their presence. Wakaso, who was the architect with his accurate passes, found Frank Acheampong on the right flank with a swift through ball.

The Anderlecht winger made no mistake when he raced towards the goalkeeper one-on-one, placing the ball beyond his reach.

The Mambas compacted the midfield, limiting the spaces available for the Black Stars to exploit and held on to slim defeat into the dressing room for recess.

Acheampong was taken off for Jeffrey Schlupp who passed a late fitness test. The Black Stars began the second half more stronger and pinned Mozambique to the wall. The chances for the Stars’ began flowing but the back line was very compact for Ghana to reach to the goal mouth.

However, a well floated ball from a corner kick by Christian Atsu, who had a good day, was difficult for the Mambas to defend. The keeper failed to get first control on the ball, and his defenders couldn’t either. An attempted clearance was directed at the forehead of John Boye who was following up after the melee.

The ball went into the net, and Ghana were two up. Mozambique appealed, but it was not headed to by the referee.

Two minutes later, Jordan Ayew volleyed home the final nail on the coffin after he was sent one-on-one by Harrison Afful. The goalkeeper poorly timed the ball and raced out, but he was beaten by the Aston Villa striker to it.

Ghana adopted control the game attitude, but Mozambique took advantage of that and pounced on them to earn a consolation through substitute Manjate.

Influential midfielder Mubarak Wakaso could not complete the game, and was replaced by Emmanuel Agyemang Badu.

Pressure was mounted on Ghana, but they remained resolute and earned their third successive win in the upcoming AFCON series.

Match Report: Ghana 3-1 Mozambique

Agyemang Badu To Captain Black Stars Against Mozambique

Udinese midfielder, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu will lead the Black Stars of Ghana on Thursday afternoon against Mozambique.

The former U-20 world cup winner is stepping in for the leadership role of the team after incumbent captain, Asamoah Gyan was ruled out with a thigh strain.

Deputy captain Andre Ayew absent too, and Agyemang Badu has been tasked with the leadership responsibility.

The game scheduled for 15:30 GMT at the Accra sports stadium is the first  of double header for the upcoming Afcon in Gabon.

Ghana sit top of Group H with six points out of six after annihilating Mauritius in the opening qualifying match,  and recorded a hard fought victory over Rwanda in Kigali

Agyemang Badu To Captain Black Stars Against Mozambique

Acheamapong To Start: Ghana Probable XI v Mozambique

Anderletcht winger, Frank Acheampong could start in Ghana’s Afcon 2017 qualifier against Mozambique on Thursday, at the Accra Sports Stadium.

From sportscrusader.com’s observation in the Black Stars final preparation for tomorrow’s game, the former Black Satellites left attacking midfielder started on the left side of attack during training.

In between the sticks in the training session was, Cordoba goalkeeper, Razak Braimah ahead of Adam Larson Kwarasey, who returned after almost two years out of the team.

The back line was made up of the usual suspects, Harrison Afful at right-back, and Baba Rahman at left back. The wing-backs flanked John Boye and Jonathan Mensah in the heart of defense.

Rabiu Mohammed and Mubarak Wakaso could be in the pivot of of the pitch, shielding the back four.

Christian Atsu and Frank Acheampong at either wings of the midfield, whilst the attack could be spearheaded by Jordan Ayew and Asamoah Gyan.

Asamoah Gyan could not complete the training session. However, he was not replaced in the line up for the second round of the session.

Probable XI v Mozambique: Braimah, Harrison Afful, John Boye, Jonathan Mensah, Baba Rahman, Mubarak Wakaso, Rabiu Mohammed, Christian Atsu, Frank Acheampong, Jordan Ayew, Asamoah Gyan.

Acheamapong To Start: Ghana Probable XI v Mozambique

Grant To Rest Some Players After Mozambique Game

Sportscrusader.com can confirm that some players could be released after tomorrow’s Afcon qualifier against Mozambique at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The technical team of the Black Stars, headed by Avram Grant, intends to drop some players for the second of the twin Afcon 2017 qualifier against Mozambique in Maputo.

Grant is optimistic of securing a comfortable win on Thursday and should that happen,  some senior members of the senior national team will be rested for the game in Maputo on Thursday.

Avram Grant invited 23 players for the game tomorrow, and all are the players are in camp.

Grant To Rest Some Players After Mozambique Game

Kwarasey"s Presence Good For Me - Richard Ofori

Wa All Stars goal keeper, Richard Ofori has admitted that the presence of returning Adam Kwarasey is a good a omen for him as a young goal keeper.

 

Kwarasey announced his retirement from national duties after admitting to having challenges with Black Stars goal keeper’s coach, Nasamu.

But coach Avram Grant has been successful in talking to the in-form Portland Timbers number one out of retirement and has named him as one of three goal keepers called up in the 23-man squad for the upcoming double header AFCON 2017 qualifier against Mozambique and this news has been received as a morale booster for Ofori.

Ofori mentioned that he will have the chance of learning a lot from the experienced Kwarasey on his return to keeping the post for Ghana.

He said, “I am meeting top goal keepers like Kwarasey who are very good and I can learn from their training routines a thing or two.”

 

“I learnt a lot and do same at training ad gaining knowledge has no limit and as young goal keeper I can only learn from their experience and how they manage keeping the post in high profile matches,” he added.

Richard Ofori will hope to be given the nod to be in post for Ghana when the Black stars host Mozambique on March 24 at the Accra sports stadium.

Kwarasey"s Presence Good For Me - Richard Ofori

Black Stars To Start Training On Tuesday

The Black Stars of Ghana will start preparations for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2017 qualifier against Mozambique on Tuesday March 22.

Head coach Avram Grant released the squad for the qualifiers earlier on Wednesday, and a follow-up by sportscrusader.com reveals that, the invited players will start arriving into the country on Monday and training will begin on Tuesday at 4 pm for the double header at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The first encounter will be played on Thursday March 24 and the return fixture will be played in Maputo four days later.

Ghana sit top of Group H with maximum points after victories from two matches.

Black Stars To Start Training On Tuesday