Hot!
The Ayews predicament …To quit or not to quit
• The Ayew brothers, Andre (left) and Jordan
It’s interesting how things can change very fast in life.
In sports, particularly football, this scenario can be perfectly illustrated with its daily happenings.
In a minute, a player becomes a hero of a club or a national team, leading him to success on the field or chalking some historic wins. His absence can even affect the team’s confidence.
The next moment, this player becomes a villain who has overstayed his welcome, and he must retire or quit the club or national team.
Even when the player feels he has a little more to give, he is looked in the face by the same fans that applauded him and told that ‘Massa’, your time is up.’
From that moment, the player becomes the problem of the club or national team and is at fault for every negativity around it.
Ask players like Ivorian international and Manchester City legend, Yahaya Toure, Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan and recently the Ayew brothers – Andre and Jordan, or axed Black Stars coach, Chris Hughton; they know about this.
But what these players or coaches do not know or refuse to accept is the axiom suggesting that one needs to leave the stage while the ovation is loudest.
Those who exit the stage while the applause was loudest do not have the unpleasant experience of courting bad publicity or becoming a desperado to the same fans that once sang the player’s praise.
Former Ghana international and Dortmund star, Otto Addo, may be relaxing
in his Dortmund base today, observing happenings in the camp of the Black Stars and perhaps, be wondering whether he would have been the target of that fan attack in Cote d’Ivoire following the team’s poor showing at AFCON 2023.
Addo guided the Black Stars to snatch a FIFA World Cup ticket from Nigeria over two legs to send the entire nation into frenzy. By the time the excitement came down, Ghana was out of the World Cup following an unimpressive showing.
As stipulated in his contract, Addo exited the scene, although not with much applause and entered Hughton who also kept faith with the Ayews, a decision that appears to have made him a ‘persona non grata’.
But one may ask what crime the Ayews committed to warrant this level of condemnation and vilification from a majority of Ghanaian soccer fans.
If the narrative is not about why the coach kept Jordan in a game for the entire duration, then it will be why he brought on Andre because he was a mere passenger.
They have been the major subjects for discussions on several platforms and one even wonders where they get the motivation to still want to don the once glorious senior national team jersey.
In a sharp throwback to 2021 in Egypt, Andre was considered Ghana’s finest after leading a U-21 side to defeat Brazil in a FIFA World Cup to hand Ghana her only success in that age categorised championship.
That, obviously, fast-forwarded his smooth transition to the senior side where he bid his time and became the captain of the side.
Beyond the camp politicking fans only hear but lack evidence to confirm, the Ayews, in my view have paid their dues to Ghana football and must be treated with respect.
It appears Ghanaians have lost some of the magical moments Andre especially have had with Ghana at the FIFA World Cup, AFCON and some qualifying games.
The only problem of the Ayews, for me is the failure to watch the clock to know when to time themselves out. What Asamoah Gyan went through with fans at the latter parts of his career should have guided the Ayews to exit at the right moment.
It also teaches a lesson that no matter how sumptuous your football meal was in the past, fans will always go against you whenever it loses its taste.
But it is not too late. With their respective careers at an anti-climax, they can take a decision they feel will be in their interest and that of the nation in order to be absolved from the blame for the Black Stars downward spiral.
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
