Ransford Selasi Itching For Serie A Football After Sealing Spot With Pescara

Italy based Ghanaian youngster Ransford Selasi is itching for the return of the new European season after sealing topflight football with Pescara.

The 20-year old hard tackling powered his second tier side to the Serie A over the weekends but has already switched his attention to new season in Italy.

The midfield anchor man is buzzing with confidence and raring to flex muscles with the top not players on Italian soil.

Pescara saw off threats from Novara and Trapani to book a place in the Serie A next season as a reward for their monstrous end to the second tier league.

The Ghanaian import however revealed his satisfaction with their turbulent start to the season as it powered them at the tail end of the campaign.

Speaking exclusively to www.Sportscrusader.com ahead of the 2016/17 Italian Serie A season, Selasi pledged to pounce on the platform and showcase his vale to the watching world.

He said, “It is a new environment and one we have been waiting for all along. I am personally ready for the season both in mind and in physical presence even if it is today, I am ready to make a case for myself in the Serie A.

 

It has been fantastic for us and the feeling cannot be described in words. It is a platform that will help improve me as a midfielder. Next season will see a different Ransford Selasi”.

On any future national call up, the 20 year old availed himself for the course of the nation if called upon.

“It has always been my dream to play for the national team of Ghana and I will love to one day wear the famous jersey of the black stars. It has been my childhood dream and I am only waiting for turn as a defensive midfielder. The new platform in the Serie A will draw me closer”, Ransford told Sportscrusader.com.

The defensive midfielder has earned himself reputations across Italy for his interpretation of the typical number six position spiced with masterful long range passes.

He will be joining the likes of Afriyie Acquah, Isaac Coffie, Alfred Duncan and Emmanuel Agyemang Badu as typical defensive midfielders in Italy of Ghanaian origin.

Ransford Selasi Itching For Serie A Football After Sealing Spot With Pescara

Ransford Selasi Inches Away From Serie A Football

Ransford Selassie look destined for Serie A football next season after a commanding win in the first leg of the Promotion Play Off finals.

The Pescara midfielder came on as a late replacement in a 2-0 win over Trapani ahead of the return leg on Friday.

Goals from Ahmed Bernali and Gianluca Lapadulla handed Pescara a 2-0 aggregate win and could clinch Serie A football if they avoid a heavy defeat in Sicily.

The Delfini made their intentions known from the onset with flurry of attacks on their Sicilians opponents and it paid off at the start of the second half.

Ransford Selasi in action for Pescara

Ahmed Benalli opened the scoring for Pescara before Lapadulla took his season tally to 30 goals in 42 appearances.

The Peruvian born Italian forward deflated the egos of the Sicily based Trapani with another screamer to end the tie as a contest.

Ransford Selassie came on in the final five minutes of the game for the hard working Viera.

The Ghanaian and his team mates will seal promotion to the Italian top tier of they avoid a heavy defeat in the return leg on Thursday.

Ransford Selasi Inches Away From Serie A Football

Juventus" Coppa Italia Triumph Hands Alfred Duncan European Football

Italy based Ghanaian anchor man Alfred Duncan has landed himself European football after Juventus scalp over AC Milan in the Coppa Italia showdown.

The Sassoulo defensive midfielder finished his Serie A campaign on the sixth slot but needed assistance from the Bienconeri to seal one of the three Europa league spots from Italy.

The 22 year old hotshot featured prominently for the Serie A high fliers with 35 appearance across the season.

The Inter Milan Academy graduate arrived at the Stadio Citta Del Triccole from Sampdoria but has developed into one of the finest combative midfielders on Italian soil.

Alfred Duncan joined by colleague to celebrate a goal

 

The explosive midfielder has reportedly been earmarked by a European club ahead of the summer transfer window but the presence of European night might just lure the Ghanaian into extending his tenure with Sassoulo.

Juventus denied AC Milan the only route to European football with another hard earned victory over their Rosseneri counterparts to hand Sassuolo a ticket to Europe.

Sassoulo joins Fiorentina and Inter Milan for Europa League adventures whiles AS Roma and Napoli join Juventus for the 2016/17 UEFA Champions league campaign

Juventus" Coppa Italia Triumph Hands Alfred Duncan European Football

Agyemang Badu Escapes Relegation In Italy

Italy based Black Stars midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu escaped relegation from the Serie A on a dramatic final day showdown.

The Udinese midfield anchor man suffered a 1-2 home reverse at the hands of relegated Carpi but sustained their top flight status by just a point.

Agyemang Badu enjoyed his second most prolific campaign from the middle of the pitch despite the warbling form of his side with four goals in his 34 appearances.

His struggling Serie A side however ended the season with two wins in the last 14 league matches in a miserable campaign for Luigi De Canio and the Zebratas.

The Stade Fruili outfit skipped the drop by just one point with 18 defeats across the league campaign.

Agyemang Badu reportedly courted interest from a number of domestic rivals which forced Udinese to place a 10m USD valuable on their Ghanaian import.

Agyemang Badu Escapes Relegation In Italy

Kingsley Boateng Makes Injury Return For Bari

Ghanaian forward Kingsley Boateng marked his injury return for Bari in the Italian Serie B after an eight week absence from the team.

The 22 year old striker missed the last 10 league fixtures for the promotion chasing side in the second tier league but returned to power Bari to three crucial points away to Brecia.

Kingsley marked his injury return to the first team action with crucial role in the build up to the winning strike which kept their Serie A promotion hopes alive.

The former NAC Breda and Catania youngster has since failed to find the back of the net in his 19 appearances made across the season since his return from Dutch football.

The injury ravaged forward came on as second half replacement for Guisepa De Luca with the tie leveled at 2-2 before eventually orchestrating the move which finally led to a 90^th minute penalty for the visitors.

Bari emerged as 2-3 winners on the night and could still seal promotion to the top flight in a dramatic final day showdown slated for next weekends.

Compatriot , Isaac Donkor left the pitch in the last 16 minutes for the visitors after as a precautionary measure ahead of an expected thriller at home to Trapani.

Kingsley Boateng Makes Injury Return For Bari

Bright Addae Returns To Ascoli After Three Match Suspension

Italy based Ghanaian midfielder Bright Christopher Addae made a losing return to Ascoli after serving his mandatory three match for his red card against Trapani.

The 23 year old gargling defensive midfielder missed the last three matches for his midtable side but returned to take his place at the heart of the pitch in a 2-0 defeat at Novara.

The ex Wa All Stars utility midfielder defied his three week absence to show his worth despite finishing the game on the losing side.

Goals from Pablo Gobzacalez and Pancrazio Farago on either halfs proved too much for Ascoli to contain in the Italian Serie B.

Addae played a crucial role in the qualification of Ascoli to the second tier of Italian football and has already drawn attentions from a number of European clubs with his energetic runs and intelligent passing range.

The talented Ascoli defensive shield played a mammoth role in Sellas Tetteh’s 2009 FIFA U20 World championship winning campaign.

Bright Addae Returns To Ascoli After Three Match Suspension

Isaac Donkor and Kingsley Boateng Suffer Promotion Setback In Italy

Ghanaian pair of Isaac Donkor and Kingsley Boateng saw their Serie A promotion hit a snag after a heavy home defeat to second place Cagliari in the second tier league.

The Bari 1908 Ghanaian imports look set to secure promotion to the top flight of Italian football but a 0-3 home defeat at the hands of Cagliari vanquished their slim promotion hopes.

Bari dropped out of the top four and remains a distant 11 points off second place visitors who could seal their spot by the close of the weekends.

A first half thumping finish from Jao Pedro opened the floodgatea for the visitors before further goals from Diego Farias and Alberto Cerri sent the visitors three goals up.

Both Kingsley Boateng and Isaac Donkor missed the crucial top liner in the Italian Serie B having featured in 18 matches across the season.

Another Ghanaian forward Randsford Selassie could however seal his place in the top tier of Italian football if Pescara can build on their late season resurgence with just four matches to play for.

Crotone booked their place in the Serie A last week after a monstrous run in the second tier league.

Isaac Donkor and Kingsley Boateng Suffer Promotion Setback In Italy

Afriyie Acquah Scores In Torino"s Heavy Win Over Udinese

Italy based Ghana international Ebenezer Afriyie Acquah steerd Torino to a 1-5 away triumph over Udinese in the Serie A.

The explosive midfielder spiced up his commanding performance at the middle of the pitch with his trade mark long range drives to earn the bragging rights over his compatriot Agyemang Badu.

Acquah followed up an opening strike from Pontus Jandon with his third of the campaign to cap an impressive outing for Giampero Ventura’s men.

The hard tackling midfielder gave his visiting team a 0-2 lead just on the stroke of 45 minutes before returning to set up Josep Martinez for the third of the game.

The 24 year old has enjoyed a spectacular season yet again in the Italian top flight despite his off field setbacks since joining Torino from Sampdoria at the start of the season.

Acquah traded Parma for Sampdoria after the former’s demotion to the fourth tie of Italian football.

International team mate Emmanuel Agyemang Badu lasted the torturing 90 minutes for the home side as Torino run out 1-5 victors to move into the 10th slot.

Udinese meanwhile remains 6 points clear off the drop zone with two games to end the season.

Afriyie Acquah Scores In Torino"s Heavy Win Over Udinese

Kwadwo Asamoah Clinches Third Serie A Title

Italy based Ghanaian midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah has landed himself a third straight Serie A trophy after Napoli’s set back at Rome.

The Bienconeri’s utility Ghanaian endured a torrid campaign with Max Allegris men but has recently returned to form to help steer the Turin based side a fifth straight Scudeto and his personal treble.

Napoli’s 1-0 defeat at Roma means Juventus remains 12 clear at the top of the log with 3 games to play for in the campaign.

The reigning champions had a torrid start to their title defense with one win in the opening six Matches but has returned to master a run of 25 unbeaten matches in the league to get their season back on track.

The dominant Bienconeris put together a run of 9 straight wins in the last 10 matches including yesterday ‘s 2-1 away win at the Viola.

Asamoah joined Juventus from Udinese at the end of the 2012/13 Serie A campaign.

The Ghanaian has since won all three Scudeto trophies since his arrival at the Juventus Arena.

The injury ravaged former Liberty Professionals man managed just 11 appearance in the season after a lengthy spell on the treatment room.

Kwadwo Asamoah Clinches Third Serie A Title

Juventus to Play at Olympic Stadium on August 7

West Ham will face Italian giants, Juventus in the first match at the Olympic Stadium.

The two sides will compete for the Betway Cup in a pre-season friendly on August 7 to officially open the Hammers’ new home. The Italian champions are one of Europe’s biggest clubs and are set to retain their Serie A title this season.

Dmitri Payet has been a revelation for the Hammers since his summer move from Marseille

Joint chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold say they are ‘hugely excited’ at the prospect of welcoming the Bianconeri to the 60,000-seater arena.

“We are delighted to be marking such a monumental day in West Ham United’s history by welcoming one of the world’s biggest clubs to our fantastic new home,” they said, in a joint statement.

“It was always our intention to open the new 60,000-capacity Stadium on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with a fixture fitting of the occasion, and the visit of the reigning Italian champions Juventus is most certainly that.

Juventus deadly duo – Paul Pogba and Paulo Dybala

“We are hugely excited and honoured by this wonderful opening fixture against a historic club which shares many of the values we cherish here at West Ham.

“There has been an enormous amount of work done over the past few years to ready the stadium for our first game and we cannot wait to show our fans and the wider football world how incredible it will look.

“This will be a game you’ll want to tell your grandkids you were at. Sunday 7 August just can’t come soon enough!”

The two sides have never met before, either in competitive or friendly action.

Juventus to Play at Olympic Stadium on August 7

Agyemang Badu Impresses In Udinese Defeat

Black Stars midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu maintained his impressive form for his struggling Udinese in a 3-1 heavy defeat at Inter.

The talented midfielder shone at the middle of the pitch for the Zebratas headlined by his delicious assist to Cyril Theareu at the Guiseppe Meazza.

The Stade Fruili crowd favourite again illuminated his ailing side before late strikes from the Nerrazuris overturned the score line for Roberto Mancini’s men.

Agyemang Badu, who is enjoying his most prolific season as a professional, sumptuously teed up Cyril for the opening strike just 9 minutes into the game to put Udinese ahead.

The former Kumasi Asante Kotoko midfielder then resorted to his usual end to end runs in the opening half of the pitch until Stephanie Jovetic pulled parity for the host with 10 minutes to recess.

The Montegro hitman however doubled his personal tally on the 75th minutes after been put through by the workaholic Jonathan Biabiany.

Agyemang Badu then came close to levelling matters for Udinese with his trade mark pile drivers but for the army of defenders shielding Samir Handanovic in post for Inter Milan.

Substitute Edder Martins then clipped the wings of the visitors with the third for his side on the stroke of full time to win the clash on 3-1 score.

Badu has since returned an impressive 4 goals in his 31 appearances for Udinese amidst their indifferent form in the Serie A.

Agyemang Badu Impresses In Udinese Defeat

Preview: Ghanaian Players In European Action This Weekend

Ghanaian Players In European Action This Weekend

As the year has began Ghanaian players are well informed of the opportunity available to represent the senior national team – the Black Stars in African cup of Nations and FIFA world cup qualifiers later this year as such their club performance will be a yard stick to measure their preparedness to play for Ghana.

 

In this weekend round of games, English premier league will be hold sa the world’s oldest cup competition, The FA cup takes centre stage.

The city of Milan will be the venue for Europe’s biggest game of the weekend as Inter Milan face Ac Milan in the Milan derby.

The Spanish la liga will see a top of the log clash between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

 

England

Dede Ayew and his Swansea city team mates will have the weekend off as the Welsh club will not be copetiting in the Emirates FA cup after losing lower league side, Oxford united in the third round. The Swans won their first game away in a long while against Everton in week 23 of the English premier and will be next in action when the premier league returns in mid-week against, West Brom.

 

Aston Villa – Manchester City

Meanwhile Dede’s younger brother, Jordan Ayew will hope to continue with his consistent first team selection under manager, Remi Garde when 2012 FA cup champions, Manchester City travel to Villa park. Aston Villa have won just twice in their last five competitive matches and Manchester City’s three wins in 5-games isn’t too convincing and considering the citizens’s calibre and crop of players available.

Italy

AC Milan – Inter Milan

Ghanaian midfielder, Kevin-Prince Boateng will hope he makes manager, Sinisa Mihajlovic’s team for the Milan derby on Sunday. The Rossoneri go into the game as the in-form team with three wins and two draws in their last 5-games whilst their city rivals boast of a win, two draws and two defeats in their last 5-games. Inter Milan are placed 4th on the table and with 8-points separating them from 6th place AC Milan a defeat in the game will the 7-times UEFA champions league winners move to 5th place and also reduce the points difference to 5.

Carpi – Palermo

Isaac Cofie’s Carpi will play host to 14th place Palermo and with the away side recording two defeats in a row in their last two matches the home side should be in confident mood to annex all three points and salvage what is gradually looking like relegation sealed fate. The versatile Ghanaian midfielder missed Carpi’s one-all trip to Inter Milan last week and will hope to put in a similar and stellar performance at home.

 

Atalanta – Sassuolo

Yussif Chibsah played 87 minutes when his Sassuolo side hosted Atalanta last weekend in the coppa Italia and will hope his performance on the day will guarantee him a starting berth when they travel to the same opponent but this time in Serie A action. Sassuolo are just 9-points off a champions place and will be motivated to focus on grabbing all the three points.

Chievo Verona – Juventus

Isaac Cofie missed Chievo’s last game against empoli which ended one-all and will hope to be in manager, plans. Chievo have not won against the old ladies of Italian football, Juventus.Kwadwo Asamoah missed Juve’s 1-0 victory over AS Roma and have an enviable record of six wins in a row. The ghanaian midfielder is rumoured to have raptured his knee injury and might miss the game. Juventus edge Chievo in the head-to-head meeting with four wins and two draws in their last five meetings.

Udinese – Lazio

Agyemang Badu played in Udinese’s 1-4 defeat away to Palermo and saw yellow in the game but the memory of been the captain on that night during the thrashing can be cast back when Udinese defeat Lazio in this weekends Serie A clash at the Stadio Fruili. Udinese are on a bad run of form with three defeats in a row and will have to start picking up maximum points.

Bologna – Sampdoria

Godfred Donsah played 72-minutes in Bologna’s 0-2 victory away to Sassuolo las week and will look forward to kick odd from there when they host 17th placed, Sampdoria at the Renato Dall Ara stadium.

Greece

Platanias – Panathinaikos

Michael Essien will hope to inspire his Panathinakos side in this weekends clash against Platanias after scoring his first goal for the club in the Greece super league against, Levadiakos. Panathinakos lie 3rd with 35-points after 19-matches played in the 2015/16 league season.

Preview: Ghanaian Players In European Action This Weekend

Dedication: KP Boateng Dedicates First Goal

Kevin Boateng Scores First AC Milan

Kevin-Prince Boateng scored his first goal on his AC Milan return when the Rosoneri’s faced in-form Fiorentina in the Italian Serie A on Sunday.

 

The 7-times UEFA league champions have struggled to find consistency under-fire coach Sinisa Mihajlovic but took full advantage of the chances that came theiir way when they defeated the Viola by 2-goals to nil at home. Boateng returned to the Milan based club for a second stint after he was released by German side, FC Schalke in the winter of 2015.

 

The Ghanaian international scored in the 88th minute when he raced on to Juraj Kucka’s ball over the top to score Milan’s second goal.

“This is a victory for Mihajlovic and all the Milanisti,” said the 28-year-old midfielder.

“I am here to work and I want to do well. I thank the coach and the president. This goal is important for me,” he added.

The victory has seen AC Milan climb to sixth spot in Serie A.

Dedication: KP Boateng Dedicates First Goal

Preview: Ghanaian Players Involved In European Football Action

Kwadwo Asamoah’s Juventus Travel To Badu’s Udinese In Top Liner Of Ghanaian Players In Abroad

Ghanaian players will be involved in weekend action with the respective European clubs.  Jordan and Andre Ayew will hope to have a better luck with Aston Villa and Swansea City respectively during this weekend.

In Italy Kevin Prince Boateng will hope to start his first Serie A game after returning to the club for a second stint.

England

Jordan Ayew will be leading the attack for Aston Villa when the Villians host premier league surprise package and joint top of the table, Leicester City in the Midlands derby on Saturday.

Aston Villa forward, Jordan Ayew

Leicester city have won 34 matches to Vlla’s 27 wins in 87 matches played in all competitions. The home side, Aston Villa cant afford to lose this game as time is running out for any chance of a premier league revival.

 

Dede Ayew like his younger brother, Jordan will lead the attack for Swansea City who have lost as many games since parting ways with Garry Monk. The Swans have flattered to deceive after starting the league on top of the top and with some interest results notably a draw at Stamford bridge against Chelsea and victory over Manchester united.

Dede Ayew in Swansea colours

Swansea lost their last premier league game at home by 2-goals to 4 against fellow relegation threatened, Sunderland. The two teams have met 10 times and each have won 5 games at home so there’s a battle for supremacy when the face each other.

Watford had a disappointing result at Southampton but will start as favourite in the Monday night game away at the Liberty stadium. The Hornets won the first encounter of the season by a goal to nil.

Ghanaian internationals, Christan Atsu and Baba Rahman will hope for some game time when their English premier league side, Chelsea play host to in-form Everton on Saturday.

Chelsea’s left back, Baba Rahman

Many tipped the Blues to defend their title but are currently struggling to break away from the shackles of relegation and the draw against West Bromwich Albion in mid-week all but sealed any chance of making top 4.

Chelsea have won their last three home games against Everton and will hope that run of form continues however the form the 5-times premier league champions find themselves in makes it a daunting task.

Spain

Las Palmas will welcome in-form Atletico Madrid on Sundeay in the Spanish Primera la liga. Mubarak Wakaso will hope to get one over his compatriot and fellow midfielder, Alex Partey who will hope to be a part of manager, Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side that will travel to the Gran Canaria stadium.

Mubarak Wakaso during his unveiling in the summer of 2015

The two clubs have defeted each other ones at home and away respectively in two previous encounters. The battle for supremacy is now drawn though the Madrid based club starts as favourite as they have lost once and drawn one in their last 4 away games.

Italy

Napoli will play host to Alfred Duncan’s Sassuolo in this weekends Serie A encounter at the San Paolo stadium.

Isaac Cofie’s Carpi will play host to Sampdoria at the Alberto Braglia stadium. Carpi lost last year’s encounter by 5 – goals to 2 and will hope not to repeat same results as they lie 19th on the league log.

Agyemang Badu celebrates scoring against Bologna

Agyemang Badu’s Udinese will host Kwadwo Asamoah’s Juventus in the top liner in Serie A ths weekend. Juventus are on a ten game unbeaten run and will hope to continue with that fine vain of form in their quest to catch up with top of the log, Internationale Milan.

Juventus midfielder, Kwadwo Asamoah

Udinese lie 12th and are 10 points awy from 19th place Carpi. The Zebras need some consistency of results to get their season back on track. Kwadwo Asamoah played his first game in 2016 and will hope his late cameo afford him more game time from manager Massimo Allegri.

Rahman Chidbsah’s Frosinone will go away to 14th place, Torino on Saturday.

Preview: Ghanaian Players Involved In European Football Action

The Second Coming: Ghanaian Midfielder Makes AC Milan Debut

Ghana Black Stars Midfielder Makes AC Milan Debut After Returning To The Club

Ghana Black stars midfielder and former Schalke 04 player, Kevin-Prince Boateng, made his long awaited debut for AC Milan against AS Roma in a 1-1 drawn game after he was registered in the January transfer window with the Italian football federation.

 

Boateng joined Milan in his second stint after he was released by German Bundesliga side, Schalke 04 for unprofessional behaviour. The German born Ghanaian player has since then been training with the Italian club that sold him for around 12 million pounds.

The former German youth international had been involved in some behind closed door games for the Rossoneri as he was not officially registered to compete in league and cup competitions.

Kevin Prince Boateng made his debut for AC Milan against AS Roma in Saturday’s Serie A game

The 28-year old made his debut – the second time for the red and black when he came on in the 57th minute to replace Luis Adriano at the Stadio Olimpico. His performance did impress his manager, Sinisa Mihajlovic who praised the Ghana midfielder for showing good traits of his talents – character, strength and technique.

 

KP Boateng spoke of his delight at returning to the AC Milan in an interview with the club’s official television channel, Milan. He said,”I am happy to be back. It’s been a while since my last match. The team played a great game tonight,” Boateng told Milan Channel.

 

Boateng’s second game might come against Carpi in the Italian cup.

The Second Coming: Ghanaian Midfielder Makes AC Milan Debut