FC Zurich head of sports Marinko Jurendic has heaped praises on new signing Daniel Afriyie Barnieh after the Hearts of Oak man completed his move to the Swiss side.
Barnieh completed his move to the Swiss side on Tuesday on a three-year deal after passing his medicals.
Head of Sports of FC Zurich, Marinko Jurendic has praised the versatility and the courageous style of play of the 21-year-old.
“Daniel Afriyie is a dynamic and versatile attacking player who has a courageous style of play. He should take the next step in development at FCZ and give our game further opportunities forward.”
The former Ghana U20 captain cut in the Black Stars’ final squad for the global showpiece and was instrumental in the last warm-up friendly match against Switzerland in Abu Dhabi.
He has also been impressive for the Ghana home-based national team who are currently camping in Egypt ahead of the 2022 CHAN tournament which begins in a fortnight in Algeria.
Ghana international youngster Daniel Afriyie Barnieh has completed his move to Swiss Super League side FC Zurich in a permanent deal, the club have announced.
The 21-year-old has signed for FC Zurich until 2026 after passing his medical examination.
The Phobians are expected to receive a training and compensation fee of around US$150,000 from Zurich.
Afriyie Barnieh has been the subject of interest from clubs in Africa, Europe, and America following his spell with the Ghana national team at the World Cup in Qatar.
The former Ghana U20 captain cut his teeth in the Black Stars’ final squad for the global showpiece and was instrumental in the last warm-up friendly match against Switzerland in Abu Dhabi.
He has also been impressive for the Ghana home-based national team, which is currently camping in Egypt ahead of the 2022 CHAN tournament, which begins in a fortnight in Algeria.
The highly rated footballer scored three goals in four matches to propel the Black Galaxies to qualification for the CHAN tournament.
He was also involved with Ghana U23, as he scored in both legs in their qualifying match against Mozambique a few months back.
Afriyie Barnieh signed for Hearts in July 2019 and went on to become a mainstay in the team, having played an integral role in the club’s double triumph in the 2020-21 campaign.
The draw provided us with some tasty fixtures. Holders Hearts of Oak will face Dreams FC, a repeat of the 2021/22 semifinal of the competition.
Division Two side Benab will host giants Asante Kotoko, Great Olympics will play Legon Cities, Bibiani Gold Stars were paired with King Faisal and so on.
The games will be played between Friday, January 20 to Monday, January 23, 2023.
ALL ROUND 32 FIXTURES
The draw for the Round of 32 of the 2022/23 MTN FA Cup competition was held earlier today in the studios of Max TV.
The draw provided us with some tasty fixtures. Holders Hearts of Oak will face Dreams FC, a repeat of the 2021/22 semifinal of the competition.
Division Two side Benab will host giants Asante Kotoko, Great Olympics will play Legon Cities, Bibiani Gold Stars were paired with King Faisal and so on.
The games will be played between Friday, January 20 to Monday, January 23, 2023.
The 2o22/23 Ghana Premier League continued with weekend fixtures and it did not disappoint with drama and goals across the venues.
Aduana Football Club maintained their position at the top of the betPawa Ghana Premier League table after matchday 10 following their draw against Asante Kotoko.
The Ogya boys headed into the gameweek at the top of the table with 19 points, two above the Porcupine Warriors.
Despite Kotoko posing a better record than Aduana in their last five meetings, Seydou Zerbo side’s was only able to manage a point as they played out a 0-0 stalemate.
In Tamale, Tamale City secured all three points as they faced Great Olympics at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium.
Goals from Raphael Essien and Sampson Eduku were enough for the newcomers despite Gideon Ofori Offei’s strike.
Legon Cities also managed a 1-1 draw with Karela United while Berekum Chelsea and Bibiani GoldStars also ended goalless.
King Faisal’s resurgence continued at the Baba Yara Stadium as they earned a 2-0 victory over Nsoatreman. Joseph Gordon and Godfred Asiamah scored the goals for the Insha Allah lads. Real Tamale United also defeated Kotoku Royals in their encounter with the game recording five goals, the highest from the weekend.
Baba Kushibo, Issah Kuka and Yussif Mohammed were on the scoresheet for RTU with Richard Dzikoe and Godwin Segla also netting for Kotoku Royals.
Having parted ways with head coach David Duncan last week, Medeama bounced back to winning ways over the weekend. The Yellow and Mauve side beat Accra Lions with two unanswered goals from Vincent Atinga.
The game between Samartex and Dreams FC saw no goals.
Hearts of Oak had a poor start to the new year, failing to move into second place in the Ghana Premier League after a sluggish defensive performance resulted in a 2-1 loss to Bechem United in Cape Coast.
Hearts of Oak coach, Slavko Matic says his side lost to Bechem United due to tactical errors.
The Phobians at the Cape Coast Stadium on Monday suffered their first defeat under the Serbian coach.
Cephas Mantey and Hafiz Konkoni scored in the sixth and 13th minutes but Hearts of Oak pulled one back through Robert Sowah in the 89th minute to end the game 2-1.
After the game, Slavko Matic expressed his disappointment while accepting responsibility for the loss.
“Nobody likes to lose but we gave to our opponents everything today. In the first 15 minutes, they scored two goals. We know they have good transitions but we made tactical mistakes.
“When it’s an open ball and you don’t have good defensive transitions, you must go big. We tried to take the ball. We gave them space. Also, they had one more chance and shot. We gave everything to them. And after that, it is very difficult. Our players start to get nervous and today we lose. Very cheap,” he explained.
Hearts of Oak now sit on the 5th position on the league log with 16 points and will take on Tamale City in the matchday 11 games.
Hearts of Oak have lined up a move for Medeama SC left-back, Benjamin Abaidoo in the upcoming January transfer window.
The Phobians, Footydreamsgh understands have shown massive interest in the youngster to add to their cards.
Raddy Ovouka will also be added to the squad for the inexperience Rashid Okine to understudy them.
Benjamin Abaidoo
A reliable source made it clear that Abaidoo is one of the top targets of the Phobians and talks could reach an advanced stage after the CHAN tournament.
Abaidoo joined Medeama from Bechem Chelsea in 2021 and has risen to become a key player of the side.
He is also said to be on the wanted list of Asante Kotoko.
Ghanaian striker Abdul-Aziz Yakubu is on his way to Egypt to seal a move to Al Ahly SC as their search for a striker in the second transfer window continues.
The 24-year-old goal poacher left the Ave Airport for Cairo International after Al Ahly reached an agreement with Portuguese club Rio Ave for the services of the highly-rated footballer.
Marcel Koller’s side have been linked with a couple of players in the January transfer window including Ghanaian forward Afriyie Barnieh but they have missed out on the Hearts of Oak attacker after completing a move to Swiss side FC Zurich last week.
They have admired the idea of placing a Ghanaian attacker at the front line of their attacking lines, making contacts to sign Barnieh’s compatriot Abdul Aziz Yakubu.
Yakubu is expected to sign a four and half years contract with the Red Devils once he passes his medical examination in the next hours.
Al Ahly will pay 2.5 million Euros to Rio Ave to land the highly-rated footballer, making the transfer one of the most expensive by an African side.
The ten-time African champions are looking to reclaim the CAF Champions League title from Wydad AC and also beat bitterest rivals Zamalek SC to the Egyptian Premier League title at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Yakubu has been in impressive form for Rio Ave in the present season on their return to the Portuguese Primeira Liga. The 24-year-old has 8 goals and three assists in 15 games in all competitions.
He was also outstanding in the previous season where his 11 goals in 33 appearances propel Rio Ave to win the Portuguese second-tier league to secure promotion.
Yakubu’s current market value is around 2.5 million Euros and Al Ahly are ready to break the bank for the services of the Ghanaian footballer.
Aduana Stars winger Emmanuel Gyamfi has rendered an unqualified apology to football loving fans following his outburst in Asante Kotoko’s clash.
Gyamfi nearly stamped on the leg of Kotoko goalkeeper, Fredrick Asare during the matchday 10 encounter on Sunday.
The former Kotoko forward turned his frustrations on the Kotoko goalkeeper after the referee whistled for a foul against him.
The winger who was under close marking by Justice Blay turned his frustrations on Fredrick Asare after the whistle went for a foul and nearly stamped him twice.
As a result, a chunk football fans have called for Gyamfi to be penalized for his unsporting behavior.
Despite his outburst, the enterprising winger put up a splendid performance to help his side secure a 0-0 draw on home turf.
Speaking to Kumasi-based Oyerepa FM, Gyamfi rendered an unqualified apology to football fanatics for his actions against the Kotoko shot stopper.
“I am rendering an unqualified apology to all football loving fans for the incident against Frederick Asare but everyone should go and watch the full clip to make judgment. They should not rely on the few seconds video to make wrong judgement.
“Justice Blay had even asked me to calm down and said he saw the goalkeeper kicking my ankle but I asked him to go and talk to his goalkeeper before saying anything to me.
“I will be disappointed if the GFA punishes me without any punishment to the goalkeeper”
Hearts of Oak talisman Daniel Afriyie Barnieh has extended his stay with the club, according to a club statement on Tuesday.
Barnieh’s contract with the Phobians expired last month, and the hierarchy of the club was sweating to renew his contract as the player was linked to dozens of clubs in Europe and Africa.
The club confirmed he has extended his stay but failed to make the duration public.
However, sources indicate that Barnieh signed up for the end of the upcoming CHAN tournament in Algeria, which will end on February 4, 2022.
Barnieh will now be able to feature in the CHAN tournament following the extension of his contract.
His contract with the club expired on December 31, 2022, making him ineligible to feature per the rules governing the competition.
According to multiple reports, the 21-year-old will sign for Zurich in the coming days after passing his medical examination since an agreement has been reached between Hearts and the Swiss club.
The Phobians are expected to receive a training and compensation fee of around US$150,000 from Zurich once the transfer is completed.
Afriyie Barnieh has been the subject of interest from clubs in Africa, Europe, and America following his spell with the Ghana national team at the World Cup in Qatar.
The former Ghana U20 captain cut his teeth in the Black Stars’ final squad for the global showpiece and was instrumental in the last warm-up friendly match against Switzerland in Abu Dhabi.
He has also been impressive for the Ghana home-based national team, which is currently camping in Egypt ahead of the 2022 CHAN tournament, which begins in a fortnight in Algeria.
The highly rated footballer scored three goals in four matches to propel the Black Galaxies to qualification for the CHAN tournament.
He was also involved with Ghana U23, as he scored in both legs in their qualifying match against Mozambique a few months back.
Afriyie Barnieh signed for Hearts in July 2019 and went on to become a mainstay in the team, having played an integral role in the club’s double triumph in the 2020-21 campaign.
After a successful period on loan with Moldova Champions FC Sherif Tiraspol , Salifu Mudasiru joins Al-Batin in the Saudi Arabia Pro League on loan until the end of the season with the option to make the move permanent.
The 25-year-old combative midfielder will continue his career at the Gulf after joining FC Sheriff on Loan where he made 21 appearances in all competitions.
Mudasiru joins the Hafar al-Batin, an Eastern Province based-club, with the hope of helping them to move up in the league as he will add enormous quality to bring the best out of his teammates at the Al-Batin Club Stadium.
Al Batin are currently languishing bottom of the Saudi Pro League with just a point after 11 rounds of matches and Salifu’s addition will be required to improve things going forward.
Salifu becomes the second Ghanaian player to play for Al Batin after former Black Stars midfielder Afriyie Acquah from July 2021 to January 2022.
