Sports
Black Galaxies face Niger in epic quarter final clash today
• Awako – Returns to action for the Galaxies
The Black Galaxies of Ghana will take on Niger in the quarter-final of the 2022 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) tournament at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran, Algeria, this evening.
Today’s encounter will be the second meeting between the two sides, following their first meeting in the 2011 edition, where Niger cruised pass Ghana in the group stage en route to a quarter-final exit.
Annor Walker’s side finished their group stage campaign in second place after losing their opening game 1-2 to Madagascar in Constantine.
However, with six points in their last two fixtures, Ghana booked a place in the last-eight of the competition after a spirited performance to beat Sudan 3-1 to set up the quarter-final clash with Niger.
The Nigeriens emerged top of the group with six points, having secured a goalless stalemate with Congo in their opener before their hard-fought 1-0 victory over Cameroon on Tuesday evening, courtesy of Ousseni Badamassi’s 69th-minute strike.
However, sweat merchant Annor will miss the services of top scorer, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh. The FC Zurich new signing was shown a red card in Ghana’s 3-1 comeback win over two-time bronze candidates Sudan.
Walker was dismayed at losing his talisman but was optimistic about getting a good replacement for the games ahead.
“It’s unfortunate Afriyie Barnieh got the red card. He’s one of my top strikers, but I came with 25 players; so I will have a replacement and after that, he can be in action,” he said.
Also, the return of skipper Gladson Awako will be a huge boost for the side after missing a game due to a slight knock. However, forward Yusif Razak is still nursing an injury from the Madagascar game.
BY LINUS SIAW NARTEY