Hot!
Essien shows the way
The news of former Ghana international Michael Essien joining Danish side Nordsjaelland as a player-coach for the 2020-21 season must be an eye opener for other footballers who are at the twilight of their careers.
It is a popular move for players the world over that wants to pursue managerial careers when they finally hang their boots.
Top players like Frank Lampard and John Terry who featured alongside Essien, Vincent Kompany, formerly of Manchester City, Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, Luis Enrique currently in charge of the Spanish national team, Mikel Arteta of Arsenal are some examples of the new breed of coaches that followed in this path.
It makes their progression smooth and less cumbersome as they hope to find clubs in the top flight.
In Ghana, it has not been a common sight seeing players chase such opportunities when it’s clear they are nearing the end of their careers.
Thankfully, the very few that are chatting this path are showing signs of becoming bedrock of the coaching community in Ghana.
Kwesi Appiah, Ibrahim Tanko and lately C.K Akonnor have proven that when our coaches go through the process successfully, it will be very difficult for officials to ignore them.
Laryea Kingston is also doing a wonderful work with the Right to Dream Academy which is churning out a number of talented youth.
At the age of 37, Essien is aware of his dwindling energy levels and will surely play a bit pat role as a player and assist the Head Coach Flemming Pedersen for the new season.
Undergoing this successfully will aid his quest for a full coaching badge.
According to reports, Essien will join the staff in an assistant role and participate in training sessions alongside the players to help implement the drills and ideas and conduct video analysis and ‘group evaluations.
“I am delighted to have joined FC Nordsjaelland coaching staff as part of my development towards my full coaching licence. I will also be assisting the players on and off the pitch as part of my role,” Essien said on social media.
It, however, becomes heart-breaking to see a number of other players hover around after a sterling career doing virtually nothing and have chose to ignore such opportunities.
Unfortunately, with the efforts put in place by federations to provide a path for players to venture into coaching after their careers, a lot more are seen walking around and doing virtually nothing, preferring to boast about their exploits in the past and blame the nation for not helping them after they retired.
Meanwhile others like Essien, Akonnor etc have shown that with a little effort, they stand a chance of becoming coaches.
This is surely an example a lot of the retired footballers out there would have to emulate.
Undoubtedly, the implementation of the Club Licensing exposed a weakness in Ghana’s coaching structure as it rendered a number of our coaches unqualified to handle Premier League teams.
One of the ways by which that problem can be addressed is the certification of coaches through the right channel which even favours those in active service.
With the Belgium FA, players, especially those in the national teams are usually required to start planning for their coaching badges; so they collaborate with their respective clubs find ways to get them enrolled on such schemes.
That was why Vincent Kompany got his badge a year after retiring and a player like Kevin De Bruyne is set to complete his course although he is still active.
Of course, every player may not end up being a coach but for those that harbour that dream, they should consider this path Essien has charted and follow.
Essien reached the very top of his career by winning trophies with both Lyon and Chelsea.
He caught the attention of Chelsea, who signed the midfielder for £24.4million, – a club record for the Blues by then.
By Andrew Nortey
Hot!
Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
Hot!
Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
