During the Dutch Cup semifinals match between Ajax and Feyenoord on Wednesday night, Ghanaian midfielder Mohammed Kudus sustained a muscle injury.
The 22-year-old was replaced by Francisco Conceicao in the 61st minute after falling on the field, and there has been no update from the club regarding the extent of his injury.
Kudus had previously scored one goal in the competition in the round of 16 against Twente, which helped Ajax progress to the quarterfinals. Dusan Tadic opened the scoring in the 14th minute, followed by Tomas Gimene’s header that pulled the hosts level, before Davy Klaassen scored the winning goal for Ajax, securing their place in the Dutch Cup finals.
Kudus had played 90 minutes against Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch Eredivisie over the weekend but has not scored since the international break.
He featured for Ghana in two 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying matches against Angola.
Karim Benzema scored a second-half hat-trick as Real Madrid routed Barcelona to reach the Copa del Rey final.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Madrid levelled the tie through Vinicius Jr in first-half stoppage time.
Benzema added two goals early in the second half – the second from the penalty spot – to put the visitors in control and completed his hat-trick to seal the win in the 80th minute.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side will face Osasuna in the final on 6 May.
Barcelona had the better of a feisty first half at the Nou Camp, but their best chance led directly to Madrid’s opener in first-half injury time.
After keeper Thibaut Courtois got down smartly to stop Robert Lewandowski’s effort, the away side broke quickly and, after exchanging passes with Benzema, Vinicius squeezed his effort into the bottom corner.
Five minutes after the break, Madrid were in front on aggregate as Luka Modric drove forward and rolled the ball into the path of Benzema, who swept the ball home from the edge of the area.
Xavi’s side were reeling and when Franck Kessie needlessly brought Vinicius down in the box, Benzema sent Marc-Andre ter Stegen the wrong way from the spot to extend the lead.
The France striker got his third with 10 minutes remaining after a devastating Madrid counter, again led by Vinicius, with Barcelona having committed men forward searching for a way back into the tie.
It was Benzema’s second hat-trick in successive games after achieving the feat last Sunday against Real Valladolid.
Champions Asante Kotoko and King Faisal played out a goalless draw in their outstanding betPawa Premier League match at the Baba Yara Stadium Wednesday.
The Porcupine Warriors went into the game looking to continue their good run under stop gap coach Abdulai Gazale but that didn’t materialize as King Faisal put up a gallant display to snatch a point in front of an expectant crowed in Kumasi.
Playing under new manager Ignatius Osei-Fosu, King Faisal started the game as the brighter side as they looked very firm at the back and created some decent chances through former Porcupine Godfred Asiamah and David Oppong Afranie.
Asante Kotoko later took control of the game with some eye catching football but the home side failed to take advantage as the first half ended goalless.
The Reds dominated possession and showed desire at the start of the second half hoping to break the deadlock but it came to naught as the visitors kept a disciplined backline to keep their attackers at bay.
King Faisal were reduced to 10-men in the 76th minute when midfielder Abdul Latif was sent off after receiving his second yellow card of the match.
Despite being a man down, King Faisal continued to fight hard, and came away with a crucial point in their battle against relegation.
The result extends King Faisal’s unbeaten run to three games after coming from behind to beat Karela United 3-2 and securing a vital win against Accra Lions in on Saturday (1-0).
Kotoko are now in 4th place with 39 points – 5 points behind leaders Aduana FC whiles King Faisal moved to the 11th spot with 32 points – three points above the relegation zone.
Asante Kotoko will travel to Berekum to take on Chelsea on April 15 while King Faisal returns to the Dr. Kwame Kyei Sports complex as hosts of Dreams FC.
Click on the link below to watch the game. Kickoff is 7pm. After clicking on the link, scroll down to ‘ Watch Live Stream below. Click/Tap few times to go fullscreen‘
The Kumasi High Court 7 has ordered Asante Kotoko to pay GHC69,960 that was owing to Noks Hotel during the previous administration.
As some club representatives and players stayed at the Kumasi-based hotel between 2018 and2020, the debt grew.
Former club executives George Amoako and Edmund Ackah as well as players Zabo and Habib spent seven months residing at the hotel.
Officials from the Ghana Football Association stayed at the hotel while they were in Kumasi to see the team play in the Confederations Cup and CAF Champions League.
The verdict, according to Kumasi-based Oyerepa Radio, was handed out on Wednesday, April 5.
King Faisal has announced the hiring of Ignatius Osei-Fosu as their new head coach. Osei-Fosu, a young coach, will lead the team until the end of the 2022/23 season.
He takes over from Jimmy Cobblah, who was dismissed by the club two weeks prior. Osei-Fosu’s first match in charge will be on Wednesday at the Baba Yara Stadium against Asante Kotoko, with Godwin Ablordey serving as his assistant coach.
Asante Kotoko are poised to claim the second position on the Ghana Premier League log with a victory over King Faisal in the outstanding fixture for match-week 21 this evening.
The ‘City of Kumasi’ derby, set to take place at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, will likely see interim coach Abdulai Gazale name a familiar and formidable line-up for his team.
In their last two games against Legon Cities and Real Tamale United, the stop-gap coach has guided Asante Kotoko to secure four points. Yusif Mubarik, who has been out of action for several months, is expected to make a comeback to the starting eleven, partnering Mohammed Alhassan in the defense.
Augustine Agyapong and John Tedeku will be the flanks. Although Ibrahim Danlad, the team’s no.1 shot-stopper, has returned, Frederick Asare will take his place in the sticks.
Due to the unavailability of Richard Boadu, Justice Blay, and Rashid Nortey, Enoch Morrison and Sheriff Mohammed are expected to pair up with Richmond Lamptey and Eric Serge Zeze.
Matheus De Souza, who scored his debut goal for Asante Kotoko against Real Tamale United last week, will likely partner with Ugandan striker Steven Mukwala upfront.
Below is Asante Kotoko possible line up for King Faisal FC game
Frederick Asare (GK) Augustine Agyapong John Tedeku Yusif Mubarik Mohammed Alhassan Richmond Lamptey Sheriff Mohammed Enock Morrison Eric Serge Zeze Matheus De Souza Steven Mukwala Dese
Although young prodigy Edith David Doe is qualified to play for Nigeria,centres more interested in representing Ghana at the international stage.
The 24-year-old center back, who plays for Ghanaian women’s club side Lady Strikers, is clear about where her allegiance lies: to play for the Black Queens.
She was born in Nigeria, where she has lived for most of her life.
She started playing football in Nigeria for a team called the Standard Babes at age 15.
Her father, James David Doe, is a Nigerian, while her mother, Veronica Norvi Egbenya, is a Ghanaian.
Despite being eligible to play for Nigeria, where she played football for more years, Edith’s heart belongs to the land of her mother, and she has indicated she wants to represent Ghana because her mother is a Ghanaian.
“I choose to represent Ghana instead of Nigeria because my mother is a Ghanaian,” she said.
Edith applied for a nationality switch and has been granted and she is now eligible to play for Ghana having gone through all the necessary procedures.
She is, therefore, ready to accept call-ups to the Black Queens.
Ghana’s men national team have been lucky with nationality switches but the same cannot be said for the Black Queens and the other junior female national teams as naturalised players have failed to make impacts.
US-born Mimi Osei-Agyemang [now Mimi Nartey] was the pioneer to be drafted into Ghana’s at age 16 and played at the 2003 FIFA Women’s World.
Nine years later, her younger sister Candice Osei-Agyemang, also born in the US, represented Ghana at the 2012 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.
Just recently, the likes of Sharon Simpson [born in Tamale but grew up in fullbackade the cut for the 2022 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica but German-born full back Malika Ama Mamadou was dropped from the provisional list.
Aside Standard Babes, she has also had stints with Abia Angels, and Adamawa Queens before moving to Ghana to join Ladies Strikers in 2020.
