Historic! “I commented on an Unforgettable night of European football.”

 

Hours before the big game in Camp Nou, I had maintained that overturning a daunting scoreline wasn’t beyond this Barcelona team even though i still feel something has fundamentally changed about their play in a not so great way. Lionel Messi has not been at his terrorizing self in many games and perhaps details surrounding Luis Enrique’s announced departure from the club at the end of the season is proof enough that all has not been well with the great Catalonia side. 

6-1 regardless, they’re not even close to as deadly as they once were not too long ago in my opinion as a keen follower of football. But who wants to dwell on the slant in direction of a coconut tree when its still bearing sweet, juicy fruits? 

Sorry if you missed the game but “Like play, like play”, last night birthed one of the most intriguingly magical experiences in football with Barcelona defying all odds to spin a horrific 4-0 defeat to PSG a fortnight ago right on its head by posting an incredible 6-1 triumph over the Paris club. 6-5 it ended on aggregate.

A Luis Suarez goal on 3 minutes, Layvin Kurzawa’s own goal on 41 minutes, a Lionel Messi goal from the penalty spot on the 50th minute, a Neymar brace on the 88th and 90th minutes (pen), and a definitive sucker punch from Sergi Roberto on 90+4 minutes (ET) was not exactly what many people envisaged but just enough to record one of the greatest comebacks ever seen in the UEFA Champions League; qualifying into the quarter finals of the competition in a style no other club has ever done.

Now, to the nights most contentious moments.

 

Referee Deniz Aytekin, in the opinion of many who watched the epic duel, ensured he left an equally indelible mark; capped by 2 penalty calls that proved crucial to Barcelona’s win. 

But here’s what i made of it all. The 1st penalty call passes for the cleanest you’d get on any European night. Thomas Meunier had been beaten COMPLETELY and had only one motive diving onto Neymar’s path head-first; to obstruct. Even i would not have let that opportunity go and you expected less from a “desperate” Barcelona striker? That was BROADWAY baby! Nothing less than a Denzel Washington-esque performance could have been expected there. One could say that he over did it and needless as it was, the theatrics couldn’t have affected the correctness of that call.

 

The 2nd was simply a six of one, half a dozen of the other. Let’s just say we’ve seen worse calls in Europe this season. From a proper neutrals perspective, I counted more than 2 other potential penalty calls the referee didn’t look too interested in.

 

I’m neither for Barca nor for PSG and certainly not for “ASU’s mass choir” (considering the diversity of it’s membership from last night). By the way, it had Manchester United and Arsenal fans as well who needed a decent break of their own.

 

As you all know, if the results does not impact Asante Kotoko SC, i won’t particularly care and i don’t. But here’s to an unforgettable night of European football. Historic!

Shred the cloak: End culture of impunity to save media from abuse at league centres.

I’m not entirely sure where to even begin connecting my thoughts on this ugly, needless and rather primitive behaviour rearing it’s ugly head right back into our local game; the verbal and physical abuse of journalists at Ghana Premier League venues.

It’s only been 5 matchweeks into the 2017 season and already there’s just too many reports of journalist abuse and it’s quite discomforting for many well-meaning followers of the Ghanaian league. It is for me at least and that’s all the invitation I need to express my thoughts on it.

I read in subtle disbelief the narrated ordeal of Felix Romark of GHPLLive at the hands of officials of Aduana Stars last Sunday when he and his team were there to cover the club’s match against visitors, Accra Hearts of Oak. Maybe not unheard of especially when the venue is the Agyemang Badu park but all I retorted to myself as I skimmed through Romark’s Facebook post after the match was that; “You (Aduana Stars) should have had able-bodied men carry Felix and his GHPL team shoulder high for 90 minutes at Dormaa for all the exposure they give you and at no cost.”

These, I said while recalling how this same team of journalists at GHPLLive covered Aduana’s sometimes very primitive outlook at their home grounds, packaged it and opened their brighter sides up to the rest of the world and based on which Striker, Bright Adjei, won on two occasions, CNN’s goals of the week in the 2015/2016 season when Romark’s team posted video footages of both goals online and to the notice of the rest of the world.

“Na s3 w’ennya biriribi aama wase aa, wo san b) no kr)noo s3n?” (Do you rob your mother-in-law of what’s left of her after failing to honour your expected duty of adding onto what she has?)

Twi commentators especially, i’ve always maintained and in no attempt to undermine their contributions, are among the most ‘delicate’ bunch of stakeholders of our game today. That’s how far i can go to admitting that journalists also do err. From reporting factual inaccuracies from match venues through passing flawed judgement on games, to genuine professional errors nonetheless, we have made giant strides from when club officials and their supporters unjustifiably dished out instant abuses – verbal and physical – on journalists at match venues when they disagreed with their reports on issues.

These recent comebacks makes me wonder what, possibly, could be the threat to a club’s performance or influence on results by a journalist’s presence at a game except to report on what’s happening?

It’s even more baffling to think that photo-journalists; photographers are the ones now being targeted.

Also on last Sunday came Senuiedzorm Adadevoh’s unfortunate experience at the hands of, once again, officials and supporters Accra Great Olympic’s in their match against WAFA at Ohene Djan where she was badly heckled and abused for doing absolutely nothing she was not accredited by the Ghana Football Association to do.

A week ago, details emerged on how AshantiGold SC officials and supporters physically assaulted photo-journalist, Gideon Botchway, of the Kotoko Express at Obuasi on grounds of a baseless suspicion of carrying “juju”.

This is backward, and of the many challenges that Ghana football has to deal with in the 21st century, such behaviours should not be a part of it. In my estimation, only deep-seated ignorance and utter foolishness would move clubs into making it a point to frustrate the very agents who are supposed to shine light on their work.

As a follower of the local game and knowing very well what our genuine obstacles are, it’s sometimes very disheartening if not disappointing when such happenings are reported.

They often times leave you wondering if there really is hope in seeing the Ghana Premier League make that one giant leap onto becoming an authentic professional league when clubs and their officials, in this day and age, can’t seem to understand how to leverage what journalists and the media at large bring to the table.

Supporters cannot be possibly left out of the blame with most, rather than augmenting the efforts of other stakeholders in their gate-keeping roles, often emerge as architects of some of these barbaric acts meted out either to opposing teams and their supporters or the media as evidenced by some of the recent reported incidences.

The Ghana Football Association, through its spokesperson, Ibrahim Sannie Daara, has reacted to these recent, needless mishaps with strong condemnation on the attacks.

Much as I commend the GFA’s swift response, I’d also in the same breath, encourage them to not find comfort in reactive rhetorics and show some ‘balls’ by proving their will to instill sanity and discipline in our game. Let’s see the sanctions and biting fines and let them be consistent, commensurate and fair regardless of which club or official brings the name of our game into disrepute.

Violence and hooliganism, regardless of what shape or form they come cannot and must not be tolerated especially in such a time when portraying the good image of the League to attract greater Ghanaian patronage remains key.

If we can’t do these basic things right in this day and age, then we have no business running a football league.

Ghana footy!

Zdravko’s 3-5-2: A risk worth Supporters’ patience.

Emmanuel Gyamfi taking directives from Zdravko Lugarusic in a recent match.

After watching Asante Kotoko record a 0-0 result against Berekum Chelsea at the Golden city park on match day 2 of the Ghana Premier League, it became quite obvious what i reckon, in simple terms, holds true for Kotoko’s new found formation; the 3-5-2.

Clearly not the most comfortable formation even for a bystander/a fan watching across a TV screen so I can imagine how tough it possibly would be for the players expected to execute this to perfection.

This, notwithstanding, i believe strongly that if Zdravko Lugarusic, indeed, is out here risking experimenting with such a system this early in the season and with a club that has one of the worse coaching turnovers in the league, it only stands to reason that he is convinced it would work.

However you look at it, it is still early in the season to start raising alarms about how prudent or otherwise this choice of a strategy is for Kotoko and assuming you wanted to go ahead with a review of Zdravko’s plot with a focus on dimming the positives of his strategy so far, albeit with some noticeable discomfort, do save me a front row seat at your lecture. I’d love to hear how you back your call for a change in Kotoko’s current style in the face of the relatively impressive start to the season.

But really, how does one justify the continuous whining from a section of the club’s fans over what they often describe as a “struggle” to win games?

4 wins and a draw to amass 13 points from a possible 15 after 5 match days can’t possibly pass for anything beneath commendable. And to have arrived at this by picking a point in Berekum and 3 points in Obuasi, with all that history tells us about such fixtures, is indicative of a team with a working strategy.

And need i ask what systems and formations of convenience could we possibly deploy to guarantee flawless performances and results? Which formations did Kotoko deploy at Berekum and Obuasi last season? We lost both games with whatever we thought was comfortable. If the “uncomfortable” 3-5-2 formation is fetching he needed results, who needs comfort?

Our play may not be eye-pleasing yet but Kotoko is not a team under-performing. The statistics so far inspires a lot of confidence with only a goal allowed to slip through and scoring 5 times.

It is only a matter of time before the players gain mastery over Zdravko’s signature formation and I’m upbeat about the club’s chances of mounting a credible challenge at the Ghana Premier League title.

Fabu!

“Next official match” quagmire: Why Kotoko should quit the “Elite cup argument” for a second and look elsewhere.

In a space of just a couple of days, what was heading for a relatively successful season from a very poor start hit an embarrassing snag when Ghana champions, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, lost out on the MTN sponsored FA cup with a defeat to Tarkwa’s Medeama SC at the Essipong last week, only as prelude to what many of its fans conclude on as a more painful ordeal of watching Hearts of Oak benefit from a successful protest against them for fielding an unqualified Obed Owusu in their matchday clash against the Phobians.

The outcome has seen the Porcupines’ accumulated points in the Ghana Premier league slashed by 6 points to not only rob them of a potential top 4 finish but also condemned to an unexpected battle for survival on the 15th slot of the 16 club league table.

The reactions have come in thick and fast since the verdict was released last Tuesday with a number of for and against arguments across Ghana’s football ecosystem and expectedly so.

Fast-forward to the 3 days later and Asante Kotoko handed in their Appeal to have the FA’s Disciplinary Committee’s ruling overturned but has the Oseikrom club a case to fight for? Maybe they do, maybe not but I have painstakingly read through the verdict and listened to differing commentary run on it, including those of Dr. Kwame Baah-Nuako, former Asante Kotoko Management member and Director of FA relations who like myself, believes there are some key issues needing clarification.

In plain language I think there is enough cause to think there are angles to the ruling from which Kotoko can fight back, hoping these were captured somewhere in their appeal.

First lines of the full ruling as published by www.Ghanafa.org read:

“The gravamen of the protest is that player No. 7, Obed Owusu who was fielded by Kumasi Asante Kotoko(hereinafter simply referred to as “Kotoko”) had received four (4) cautions in matches previously played by Kotoko, before the match in question and was therefore unqualified to play against Hearts of Oak in the 25th week Premier League match. The matches referred to were, (i) Match day 1 – Aduana vrs. Kotoko played on 17th January, 2015; (ii) Match day 7 – Ashantigold vrs. Kotoko played on 11th February, 2015; (iii) FA Cup Semi-Final match – Aduana Stars vrs. Kotoko played on 10th June, 2015; (iv) Match day 24 – Asante Kotoko vrs. Ashantigold played on 26th July, 2015.”

Note that Kotoko vs Aduana was on July 10th and not June 10th as carried in there. A minor error perhaps.

What does the rule really say? “Article 29 (1) (e) of the GFA General Regulations defines an unqualified player as: “A player who has received a caution in three separate official matches of the FA (i.e. the League and FA Cup Competition)”

This then begs the question of which particular game came next after Obed Owusu’s 3rd yellow card of the season which he received in the FA cup semis against Aduana in Sunyani on July 10th?

From the records, the answer is Berekum Chelsea on Matchday 22 – July 19th at the Baba Yara, making it the next official ame in which Obed should have sat out. Chelsea could have protested but they didn’t. Funny thing is, Kotoko rather did against them on another issue albeit shabbily.

After that was WAFA in Sogakope (Which the ruling even made no mention of or did i read wrong) before Ashantigold SC in Kumasi; a game where Obed received his first yellow card after the first 3 cited in the FA’s regulations. The DC kept referring to it as the 4th yellow card when nowhere in the FA’s own regulations makes mention of 4 yellow cards because really it’s a clean slate after a 3rd card is dealt with anyhow.

Well, Ashantigold then became first to file a protest against the player (who should have sat out of the previous game ie Next official game but didn’t because the opponent, Berekum Chelsea, waived the opportunity to or so it appeared).

Now, on what grounds could the miners have succeeded with their protest? Doesn’t the FA’s regulation make mention of a stipulated window of opportunity within which a club can file for a protest beyond which it becomes a dead case to pursue? From between the Chelsea game on Matchday 22 to the Ashgold game on matchday 24; had that window of opportunity not expired?

Does the automatic suspension for one match (Next official match) which in real context was that of B.Chelsea) has a carry on effect?

Again from where I sit, nowhere in the FA regulation does it say that if a player is suspended for a match and fails to sit out the next official match he remains suspended for other matches. Mr Nuako agrees by saying that “where the regulation wanted punishments to be rolled over until remedied, it states that clearly.” To buttress this point, he cites to examples ie

1. When you fail to submit your audited accounts

2. Where you fail to pay a fine duly imposed.

He argues that in both instances the regulation states that until the offense has been remedied, the club forfeits any matches they play in as Kotoko almost benefited from in their ill filed protest against Berekum Chelsea.

It is clear therefore that in the case of an unqualified players the regulation does not set such a rule. In both examples cited, the regulation does not give an expiration time frame after which the offending club is free with no protest brought against it. In the case of an unqualified player however, who is to serve suspension for receiving cautions or even expulsions the period for their suspension is definite which the “next official match.”

Which club owns the legitimacy to protest? The “next official opponent” (Berekum Chelsea) or the whole stretch of next official opponents (WAFA to Aduana an even Medeama in the FA cup final)?

Kwame Baah-Nuako believes the right to protest is not transferrable especially when even the next official opponent limited by a time period to file a case. “If the club with the right fails to protest, it is deemed to have waived that right and cannot protest even at a later date,” he said.

How then does an Accra Hearts of oak earn rights to protest against Kotoko, many matches after the next official game which had no one protesting on over a period, I wonder?

Why did the FA’s disciplinary body skip any reference to Berekum Chelsea or even WAFA to cite Ashgold and Hearts of oak when both were not Kotoko’s next opponents after Owusu’s 3 yellow card accumulation?

As if the verdict wasn’t absurd enough, Kwame opines that either the DC were not abreast with the records or perhaps they noticed how stating those facts would have pointed to the absurdity of the whole of Hearts suit against the player.

Upholding this verdict means Obed Owusu is yet to serve his suspension and thus remains unqualified till he sits out an official match when the regulation says the player is only unqualified for the club’s next official match. That makes no sense as it accords “next official match” a perpetual status but is that what that rule means?

On whether or not Kotoko could argue this line of thought at the appeals level if they did not in their earlier Kwame thinks it’s very much possible since the DC made the determination of what was the club’s next official match central to the decision and thus kotoko by arguing this would not be introducing new issues but only attacking the basis of the decision.

Kumasi Asante Kotoko SC After GHPL Matchday 13 – Missed Chance to Climb up League Log

Ladies and gentlemen, “Ayam weak la” and with all sincerity, my opinion, right here and now, is best kept straight to the following points.

1. We are just not good enough. This is admittedly the weakest Kotoko team I’ve seen in the last 3 years. Personnel wise, we didn’t entirely do a great job on the market.

2. Not a hopeless case, mind you but if you keep tackling problems cosmetically, you get exposed by “bad weather.”

3. David Duncan is, right now, a manager in the true sense of the word only trying to make sense out of a very bad situation from where I sit. It’d therefore be out of place to blame him for a lot of things, especially the kind that brings his capabilities into question. At least that shouldn’t happen till perhaps after “now,” if he’s allowed, with the help of a markedly transformed recruitment system, to build a side of his own based on KAK’s unique need assessment.

4. As i’ve held from the inception, Kotoko’s problems at the start of the season only had something to do with Didi’s own frailties and not everything. Sacking him was therefore an option we could have ignored but that’s water under the bridge.

5. To all Kotoko fans, can we all try to not be plastic a little? Don’t give up by any means but for God’s sake, let’s face and accept some truth for a change. Not fabricated truth; that’s part of the cosmetic answers but the factual kind that says “we buy too much of the bullsh*t sold to us on radio” and by people “closest” to this club.

6. Personally, I think its not beyond redemption and my expectations of this team to succeed by way of winning at least a laurel or 2 is unchanged but the critical level of this expectation was lowered to “mild” when I accepted this team for what it is.

7. REPEAT POINT 2

Unto the next one.

Still ‪Fabulous‬!

Tales from my father: Asante Kotoko are African Champions again

Sunday’s great day is a lasting memory for my father

It’s the evening of December 11th, 2013 and just when I was about retiring to bed, my father calls me and asks, “did you forget what today marked?” I answered in the negative. Indeed, I hadn’t forgotten .I had been only engulfed in my own thoughts of just how I could contribute to making a day like that which happened 30 years ago repeat itself.

I was so drowned in my confusion that, not only could I not find the words to write anything about the day, but the strength too. Little did I know that my old man was about to give me something to share with the world; something he had shared with me so many times before and still love to hear it on repeat – the 1983 Africa cup final against Egypt’s Al Ahly .

I can almost perfectly recall how my Dad first narrated his experience prior and during that crucial cup final at the Kumasi stadium 30 years ago to eager,infant ears but I was not going to stop him from repeating it.

He recounts with such pride  how supporting Asante Kotoko meant that he and his friends would set off from Accra days ahead of the game to book a hotel or just  to rustle a spot to sleep .Any accommodation, regardless of how poor was fine so long as they got in early to be part of the great occasions that Kotoko Cup matches produced those days.

My father tells me about how his friends ridiculed him and made nonsense of a dream he had the day before the game; a dream in which he had practically lived through the entire proceedings of the match; revealing the time and circumstance under which the only goal scored by the legendary “Lord of the green turf”, Opoku Nti, was to come.

A young Opoku Nti brought joy to my father

Oh yes,my old man was  hip and young  with a free spirit; the kind that got him mocked with remarks like “oh let us be, you cant just eat, drink and be having stupid dreams at night” – a quote that sends him into raucous laughter as he recalls it.

He was however quick to add that his friends’ doubts were not born out of a lack of belief for an Asante Kotoko triumph but rather, “they just didn’t believe the carrier of the good news” he retorted with a smirk on his face.

Well, as destiny would have it, all my father had to do as the match wore on was to literally walk his friends as well as all sitting close by through the sequence of actions which was only about to unfold before their own eyes – the counter attack set in motion by Ernest Appau from the right with a pass to Yahya Kassum, “the butcher” in the middle of the pitch who in turn sent a long pass to John Bannerman in an advanced position on the right who beautifully outwit an on-rushing Ahly defender to send a pre-destined cross to a marauding Opoku Nti who connects it beyond Goalkeeper Thabet and into the net.

Goooaaallll!!!!  ”Lord Zico” sets Kumasi on fire and restores my father’s pride amongst his friends and all present.

“I didn’t have to say or do anything after that goal because it was game over” he said.

Much to his dismay, it was his own friends,  who took it upon themselves to broadcast to everyone what they had heard the previous night; a gospel that reached many ears immediately after the match including that of a much younger John Agyekum Kuffour who was however old enough  to advise him to pay attention to what he thought might then be a special gift of clairvoyance.

If you care to know, it sure was a gift and he hasn’t lost it.

At this stage of our conversation, my father could sense my absent mindedness  even though I sat very close by him. It was the same thoughts I had experienced through the day, creeping back into mind and just when I was about to break my long silence he said, “We made it happen”; referring to the role played by the club’s teeming followers’ to ensure success. “We didn’t wait for glory, we caused it but things are different now” he finally added with a sad sigh of resignation.

Here I was, left even more dumbfounded with “goodnight” as the only word i could utter. What could be different now I wondered? That our love for Africa’s club of the century has grown cold or that we just want Kotoko to spur itself back into greatness all by itself before we perhaps show up to share in the glory? I may not readily have answers to these questions or to how the likes of your father and mine supported this great club to a total of seven (7) Africa cup titles, winning two (2) in the process but I am most certain of our ability to come together to do better than we have in recent times to reinstate Kumasi Asante Kotoko SC as a true glorious club.

Through my eyes, Asante Kotoko will be African Champions once again but how soon this will be, depends on you and I.

Long live the King’s club. Fabu!
•1983 Squad – Africa Clubs Cup Competition Champions:

Joseph Carr, Ernest Apau, Kwasi Appiah, Seth Ampadu, Addae Kyenkyeheune, Papa Arko (Captain), John Smith Bannerman, Yahya Kassum, Ebo Mends, Opoku Nti*, Isaac Afranie, Arkye Ezuah, Charles Kwame Sampson, Ahmed Rockson, Emmanuel “Joe Tex” Quaye, Francis Agyeman

Head Coach: Ibrahim SundayIbrahim
•Samuel Opoku Nti was voted as Africa’s Best Player of the Year by the African Sportswriters Association and 2nd Best African Player of the Year by France Football.