Black Stars

Ghana forward Jordan Ayew reveals he wanted to quit Olympique Marseille academy just after four months

The striker joined Marseille as an academy player at age 13, before going on to make 111 appearances for the Ligue 1 giants – scoring a total of 14 goals.

The 31-year-old who graduated from the academy to play for the senior team before moving to England revealed it was difficult leaving family behind at that tender age.

According to the Ghana international he made the decision with the blessing of his dad before joining the academy even though his mum was not in support.

After spending some days at the academy, he decided to quit and come home.

Ayew was sharing his journey with the club’s website from France to the Premier League.

“My mum didn’t want me to stay there because she felt I was not ready, but my dad said: ‘Listen, just let him go for one or two years.’ She was not happy, because she wanted me to come back home. I went when I was 14 – and didn’t come back until I was 23!” Ayew remembers.

“It was a massive change. I was sad – honestly, after four months I called my mum and said: ‘I want to come home, I cannot do it.’ My dad said: ‘You are not coming home. You made a decision and you need to honour that decision.’”

Ghana coach target Tom Saintfiet on the radar of Belgium national team

Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet is under the radar of the Belgium Football Federation as the next manager of the national team.

The Black Stars target is one of the options being considered by Belgium following the resignation of Roberto Martinez after a disastrous World Cup.

Saintfiet is also on the list of names the Ghana Football Association have earmarked as possible replacement for Otto Addo, who stepped down after the tournament in Qatar.

The Belgium trainer is currently under contract with the Gambia national team. A deal that will expire in 2026.

However, the former Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Yemen, Togo, Bangladesh and Malawi coach could be set for his biggest adventure with either Ghana or Belgium.

According to reports in the European country, Saintfiet’s experience at the international stage makes his the ideal option and the fact that he is a Belgian.

Other names that are also making rounds in Belgium Michel Preud’homme Vincent Kompany, Hei Vanhaezebrouck, Wouter Vrancken.

World Cup 2022 was a learning platform for Black Stars – Didi Dramani

Black Stars assistant coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani has described Ghana’s participation in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as a learning platform rather than “focusing on performance in only short-term events.”

Ghana failed to reach the semi-finals, which was their target going to Qatar, as they exited the tournament in the first round.

They began their campaign with a thrilling match against Portugal, which the four-time African champions lost 3-2 on November 24.

Ghana bounced back from their opening loss by defeating South Korea by the same scoreline four days later.

Ghana found themselves in a strong position to advance to the knockout stage after defeating the Koreans.

They needed a draw or a win against Uruguay in their final group game, but they were defeated 2-0, effectively ending their tournament.

Otto Addo stepped down after the defeat against Uruguay, and the technical team is expected to be disbanded with a new one formed early next year.

World Cup 2022: Ghana winger Kamaldeen Sulemana emerges as the fastest player at the tournament

Kamaldeen Sulemana is the fastest player at the 2022 FIFA World Cup despite Ghana’s early exit.

The 20-year-old Stade Rennais winger sits top of the list of speedsters at the tournament with an acceleration of 35.7 kilometers per hour. He recorded the feat during Ghana’s game against Uruguay in the final Group H match at Al Janoub.

Closely following the Black Stars forward is Spanish-born Ghanaian, Nico Williams, who has a speed of 35.6 km/h from the game between Spain and Germany.

And in third place is Ghanaian-born Canadian, Alphonso Davies who chalked a run of 35.6 kilometers per hour in the game against Croatia.

Sulemana was a second half substitute in the game against Uruguay. He played in all three matches but made cameos against Portugal and South Korea.

Meanwhile, Williams and Davies saw more game time for their countries respectively.

All three players have exited the World Cup with Spain suffering a shock elimination at the round of 16 stage.

Williams is the younger brother of Ghana striker Inaki Williams.

World Cup 2022: Former Ghana defender Sammy Kufuor warns against abuse of Black Stars players after exit

Former Ghana defender Sammy Kuffuor has urged the media to desist from abusing Black Stars players following the team’s exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Social media have gone overdrive since the four-time African champions failed to progress from the group stage.

Accusation and counter-accusation has dominated the major headlines in the West African nation since the team exited the tournament.

But Bayern Munich legend and a member of the Black Stars management committee Sammy Kuffuor has urged the media to be measured by their criticism of the team.

‘’We all agree that this is not what we expected. But we believe in our team so I will plead with you not to point accusing fingers at any player for what happened here yesterday’’ the former Bayern star said in a press briefing in Doha on Saturday.

‘’I still insist we should find solutions to our problem and not to point accusing fingers at any player. We all know that we wanted to go far but that did not happen. Look at what we saw in the stadium and the people who travelled here to watch the matches’’.

‘’It shows the kind of love that people have for the team, we did not take it for granted at all. But its’ unfortunate we lost and exited the tournament. I am someone who can take pressure but it’s not every player who has that heart to take the pressure’’.

‘’These are young players, they need our support, not unguarded criticisms. When I was playing in Germany there was a lot of pressure but I am strong so I took that in good faith and performed’’.

‘’We don’t have to dampen the spirit of the players. We have to encourage the players to do better for our country in future competitions. We need to look at avenues to get better results from here and not to blame anyone, that’s my humble appeal to all of you.”

Ghana lost 2-0 to eternal rivals Uruguay 2-0 to crash out of the tournament in Doha.

World Cup 2022: Otto Addo insists Black Stars needed more time to be better

**Immediate past coach of the Black Stars Otto Addo believes the team would have done better if they had more time together.**

Addo, who was named coach of the team in April, spent time with the Blacks only in the June and September break before the World Cup in November.

Ghana failed to shine in Qatar, winning just a game as the Black Stars suffered first round elimination.

“The windows we had were June, September and World Cup so there was not much time,” he told the media at a briefing on Saturday,” he said.

“Surely this is normal. If we will have had more time together, we could have developed even better. I saw a lot of processes and I know it is difficult for a lot of people to understand.”

The Borussia Dortmund talent coach resigned after the Black Stars’ defeat to Uruguay last Friday.

The four-time African champions will now switch their attention to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next year

DECISION NOT ONLY IN MY HANDS – OTTO ADDO ON GHANA DEPARTURE

Otto Addo has revealed the reason behind his decision to leave his position as Coach of the Black Stars, saying the decision is not only in his hands.

Otto Addo who took over the leadership of the team in March this year, will leave the job at the end of December when his six-month contract ends.

“The decision is not only in my hands, before I even started working with the GFA, everybody knew I had a contract with Dortmund and to even come here was very difficult and the GFA put a lot of effort to get me released,” he said in a press briefing in Qatar on Saturday following Ghana’s exit from the World Cup.

“What you have to know is the position I have as a talent coach is very crucial to Dortmund. We produce a lot of big talents. It is a crucial and important position for the club’’.

“Normally they won’t have to let me go but because I want to help the country and the GFA went there and had good talks, they released me for six months,” he added.

Addo won four games during his time with the Black Stars, beating Madagascar and South Korea in competitive games with the other victories coming against Nicaragua and Switzerland in friendlies.

Ghana qualified for the World Cup at the expense of Nigeria on 1-1 aggregate following a goalless draw in Kumasi and 1-1 in Abuja on March 29, 2022.

The Black Stars lost to Brazil and Uruguay and grabbed a 1-1 draw against Central African Republic in the other games under Otto Addo.

Ghana crashed out of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament after finishing bottom of Group H with three points.

The team suffered two defeats to Portugal (3-2) and Uruguay (2-0) and defeated South Korea 3-2 in the other Group match.

GFA COMMUNICATIONS

MY AWARD IS DEDICATED TO THE ENTIRE TEAM – KUDUS

Mohammed Kudus has dedicated his Player of the Match award to the entire team following a scintillating display that earned Ghana a 3-2 win over South Korea at Education City stadium in Doha Monday.

Kudus headed home a Jordan Ayew cross in the 34^th minute to take the tally to 2-0 following an opening goal from Mohammed Salisu in the 24^th minute but Ghana threw away the 2-0 lead as the Asian giants came back stronger in the second half to draw level through Cho Gue-sung, in the 58^th and 61^st minutes of the encounter.

Mohammed Kudus again popped up to smash home the match winner for Ghana in the 68^th minute after connecting from a Gideon Mensah cross.

‘’I think we played together as a team and we all deserve credit for this win and the award’’ he told ghanafa.org.

‘’We just have to continue to work hard in the next game to get another victory to take us to the next round of the tournament’’.

”The matches are not easy, all the teams are tough but I have always said we will take the games one after the other and so we will see what happens in the next game on Friday’’.

”We are happy to win today, we will go back home, rest well and prepare for the next match against Uruguay’’ Kudus added.

The Black Stars needed three points to avoid early elimination and looked set to cruise to victory after Mohammed Salisu and Kudus put them up 2-0 at halftime.

Mohammed Kudus becomes the first Ghanaian player to score two goals in One match at the FIFA World Cup since our first appearance in Germany 2006.

The win over South Korea is Ghana’s first World Cup victory since June 26, 2010 when the Black Stars beat USA 2-1 in the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Ghana later crashed out of the tournament after losing to Uruguay in the quarter finals.

GFA COMMUNICATIONS

GHANA EDGE OUT SOUTH KOREA IN THRILLING ENCOUNTER

Mohammed Kudus scored the match winner as Ghana won an action-packed game against South Korea at Education City Stadium in Qatar.

Coming from a disappointing 3-2 loss to Portugal in the opening game the Black Stars needed a win to get their campaign back in track and that was exactly the outcome.

Ghana Coach Otto Addo made three changes to the side that lost to Portugal as he brought in Gideon Mensah, Jordan Ayew and Tariq Lamptey for Alidu Seidu, Alexander Djiku and Baba Abdul Rahman.

The Black Stars scored two quick fire goals in the 24^th and 34^th minutes through Mohammed Salisu and Mohammed Kudus to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

Back from recess, South Korea stunned the noisy Ghanaian fans with two goals in three minutes to level matters. Cho Gue-sung, top-scorer in his domestic league, levelled the game after 61 minutes after reducing the deficit in the 58^th minute.

With the game tied at 2-2, Mohammed Kudus blasted home a third for Ghana in the 68^th minute to break South Korea’s hearts.

Chances continued to fall South Korea’s way as they searched for another equaliser but, despite 10 minutes of added time, Ghana held on to win 3-2.

GFA COKMMUNICATIONS

World Cup 2022: Top Ghana FA officials tried to confront referee Ismail Elfath after ‘shameful’ decision in Portugal defeat – Sources

Top Ghana FA officials were left fuming with rage and went looking for disgraced American referee Ismail Elfath to complain about his sub-standard performance in the country’s controversial 3-2 defeat to Portugal on Thursday night.

Pressure is mounting on the world governing body, FIFA to take action against the 40-year-old Major League Soccer referee following his dubious penalty decision for Portugal against the Black Stars at the 974 Stadium in Doha at the biggest stage of world football – the World Cup.

Ghana FA officials were left angered by the conduct of the referee after he refused to consult the VAR for a second opinion on the imaginary penalty call against the four-time African champions and several other disjointed decisions.

The Moroccan-born American official refused to have a second look on the VAR monitor and judged Mohammed Salisu’s challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo as a foul.

However, television replays have shown the referee got it wrong and that decision should never have stood.

This shameful decision has sparked outrage around the world, with many questioning the essence of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to reduce such unfortunate incidents.

The dubious penalty awarded to Portugal changed the complexity of the game as Ronaldo became the first man to score in five World Cup as the Europeans were made to sweat to win 3-2 in Doha on Thursday night.

The world has been stunned by the refusal of referee Ismail Elfath to take a second look at his initial decision.

After Ronaldo converted the controversial penalty, it wasn’t long before Ghana came back, with Andre Ayew slotting the ball past the Portuguese keeper at the 75th minute from a pass from teammate Mohammed Kudus.

Soon after, Joao Felix put Portugal back in the lead at minute 78, with Rafael Leao widening the lead two minutes later.

Ghana’s Osman Bukari managed to close the gap in minute 89, but it was too late for the Black Stars to come back.

Uruguay and South Korea, the other two teams in group H, ended their game earlier today with a 0-0 draw.

The controversial victory places Portugal in an early lead as the team aims to make it out of the group stage.