Sports
Bayern battle Leverkusen … in German Cup final on July 4
Bayern Munich remain on course for the double after the Bundesliga leaders squeezed past Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in Wednesday’s German Cup semi-final behind closed doors, with both teams supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
Bayern’s early goal by Ivan Perisic was cancelled out by a second-half equaliser from Frankfurt’s Danny da Costa, who had only been on for three minutes at the Allianz Arena.
However, Robert Lewandowski settled the matter with the winner 16 minutes from time to claim his 45th goal this season in all competitions.
Bayern will face Bayer Leverkusen, who beat fourth-tier side Saarbruecken 3-0 on Tuesday, in the final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on July 4.
“We didn’t always make the right decisions in the area, we should have been three or four up at half-time, which would’ve made our lives much easier,” admitted Bayern’s Thomes Mueller, whose chip set up Perisic’s opening goal.
“You could feel the tiredness from both teams in the second-half when it got close, the will was there and we defended well, especially against the long balls.”
Hansi Flick-coached Bayern, who have a seven-point lead with four games left in the league, can wrap up an eighth consecutive Bundesliga title this weekend if they beat Borussia Moenchengladbach and second-placed Borussia Dortmund lose at strugglers Fortuna Duesseldorf.
However, Bayern will be without both Lewandowski and Mueller, who are both suspended.
“We need to rest up well and then go again on Saturday, the programme is punishing for all teams, so there is no whinging, but the tiredness is greater than the joy of reaching the final,” added Mueller.
Eintracht wore playing shirts supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, while Bayern warmed up in T-shirts bearing the same anti-racism message.
It was the latest show of solidarity in German football following the death of George Floyd in the United States in late May.
Bayern routed Frankfurt 5-2 also at the Allianz Arena, when the sides met in the league just over a fortnight ago, and once again the hosts wasted no time asserting their authority.
Frankfurt midfielder Dominik Kohr cleared Mueller’s header off the line with only six minutes gone.
Eintracht had another let off two minutes later when Lewandowski, the league’s top-scorer with 30 goals, was inches from converting a Mueller cross.
However, Bayern took the lead when Mueller chipped the defence and Perisic powered his header past Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp on 14 minutes.
The Germany goalkeeper had to pull of a point-blank save to deny Lewandowski moments later.
It stayed 1-0 at the break, but Bayern found themselves under pressure in the second-half.
Frankfurt’s shock 5-1 drubbing of Bayern last November led to the sacking of Niko Kovac, Flick’s predecessor as head coach, and the visitors started to win more ball in midfield.
With 66 minutes gone, Frankfurt coach Adi Huetter boosted their attack with double substitutions bringing on Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada and Da Costa.
The move paid off almost immediately.
Kamada managed to beat three defenders in the area before his speculative pass across goal found de Costa, who smashed his shot past Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on 69 minutes.
It was no more than Frankfurt deserved, but Bayern responded by moving up a gear.
Canadian teenager Alphonso Davies beat the defence in the area and squared to Lewandowski who was waiting to fire home his 45th goal in 39 matches this season.
The referee checked for offside with VAR, but the goal stood and Bayern are into their 25th German Cup final. – worldfootball.net
Sports
GFA issues statement on Black Star AFCON qualifying fiasco
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) wishes to express its sincerest apologies to the good people of Ghana for the Black Stars’ inability to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025.
We understand the disappointment and frustration this failure has caused, and we share in the pain and sadness of our beloved fans. We acknowledge that the team’s performance did not meet the high expectations of the nation, and for that, we are truly sorry.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to our loyal football fans for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout the qualifying campaign. Your passion and dedication are what drive us to strive for excellence.
Going forward, the Executive Council, at its meeting of Wednesday, 20th November, 2024, took the following key decisions:
- Immediate dissolution of the Management Committee of the senior national football team, the Black Stars. In doing so, we sincerely thank the members of the Committee for their service to Ghana Football over the years.
- The Executive Council will meet the Head Coach of the Black Stars, Mr. Otto Addo, on the 27th of November, 2024, to discuss his Technical report on the just ended AFCON qualifiers and the overall performance of the Technical team since assuming duty earlier this year.
Ghana Football Retreat
Given the passion and concern shown by members and stakeholders of Ghana Football as well as the general public, the GFA shall hold a Ghana Football Retreat to which members and all stakeholders shall be invited.
Members and stakeholders such as SWAG and the Media, National Sports Authority, PFAG, former captains and players, coaches, supporters, Football enthusiasts, Sports-related professionals (Medics, Economists, Marketers etc), and Opinion leaders (including traditional rulers) will be invited to the Retreat.
The Ministries of Sports, Finance and Education, and key Authorities such as Ghana Revenue Authority and Ghana Tourism Authority will be represented.
The meeting shall be held on the 28th of November, 2024, at the Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence, with the primary purpose of soliciting views and perspectives from stakeholders of Ghana Football. The output from this Retreat shall be used to develop a roadmap for enhancing the performance of the Black Stars and our other national teams.
We appreciate the support and patience of the Ghanaian people and look forward to making amends in the future.
…… END ……
Sports
Give local players the chance now
Withdrawals from national teams assignment has cast a slur on this week’s selections released by Football Associations globally.
England’s Three Lions had about six players withdrawing to take care of minor injuries suffered from the intense matches of the English Premier League (EPL), European Champions League competition and other club commitments.
Others like Belgium and Switzerland have suffered similar fate as countries prepare to honour international matches.
And Ghana’s Black Stars have not been spared in the season of withdrawals.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) on Monday reported that many as eight players had withdrawn from the squad announced by Coach Otto Addo for a double-header against Angola and Niger.
Ahead of their first training session for the Angola and Niger games, Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams, Jonas Adjetey, Tariq Lamptey, Jerome Opoku, Alexander Djiku, Ibrahim Osman and Joseph Painstil all gave reasons to be excused from duty.
Inaki Williams picked up a hamstring injury on November 7 and has since not been able to train; Tariq Lamptey had a calf discomfort that got aggravated last week, and currently undergoing rehabilitation with his club; Jonas Adjetey is on his way to full recovery but had a setback in their last League game, while Jerome Opoku suffered a chronic back pain which got worse during a Super Lig game against Besiktas on Sunday.
Antoine Semenyo is nursing an injury of the patella tendon due to overload of games, Alexander Djiku suffered an aggravation of an existing hamstring that got him substituted in their last game on Sunday; Ibrahim Osman picked up a hamstring injury in his last outing for his club which got him substituted at half time with Joseph Painstil’s reason personal.
The mass withdrawals only goes to confirm calls to take a second look as the congested football fixtures European clubs and players have complained bitterly about.
Ghana has since invited six players to replace the eight that withdrawn. My disappointment, however, lies in the fact that no local player was picked among the replacement to add to the three announced in the first call up.
Asante Kotoko’s Emmanuel Antwi, Razak Simpson of Nations FC and Samartex FC’s Isaac Afful were announced in the first 23-man squad announced by Otto Addo.
That sparked excitement among followers of the local game but expected the six replacement to have at least three more of the local based professionals.
That would have increased the local representation to six and would have been in contention in getting one or two starting roles.
Otto Addo deserves commendation for extending invitations to players from the Ghana league but the time to go a step further by giving them playing chances should be now.
With a thick cloud hanging around Ghana’s qualification and hopes at an all-time low, this should be the time to put some faith in players featuring in the GPL.
Ghana should be guided by the reasons that have called for the massive withdrawals in several national teams in order to avoid such shocks in future.
Morale is low in the team over the magnitude of a task for Sudan to lose all two games and for the Stars to win all with their current form.
But those two matches remain high-profile enough for the local based players to use to justify their inclusion for places in the national team
By Andrew Nortey
