Ghanaian youngster Charles Jesaja Akonnor has joined Belgium Jupiler League side KV Kortrijk on a three year contract
The 21-year old striker is joining Kortrijk from VFL Wolfsburg where he spent nine years beginning at the youth team.
The talented footballer began his career at Hannover Youth before moving to Wolfsburg in 2014.
Akonnor is the son of ex-Ghana international and now Black Stars head coach Charles Akonnor.
“I am very happy to join KV Kortrijk. It is a new beginning for me and I look forward to helping this team do well this season and for the period I will be here,” he told Omasports after completing the move.
“They have shown great believe in me and I am glad to be able to start again here after a difficult period in my career.”
Akonnor has played for Germany at U15, U16, U17, U18 and U19 where he scored 11 goals in 27 appearances.
The Ghana Cricket Association organized, President’s Invitational T20 League has four (4) out of the 9 Clubs tied on 8 points after last Sunday’s matches, at the Achimota Oval in Accra.
The single round robin league has seen CSK level on points, with the likes of Defenders, BGC, and leaders Supreme, after their week 6 victory over Defenders on July 4, 2021.
Supreme are top of the table with a Net Run Rate advantage of 1.881, while CSK follow with 1.792. BGC are 3rd with an NRR of 0.830 and Defenders, the only Club with 6 matches in the top 4 have an NRR of 0.522.
CSK’s triumph on Oval B in the morning began when Defenders scored 61-10 in 16.3 overs in the first innings, with their highest batting performance being 15-20 from Arun Sankar.
Hariharan Sivagnanam, Arumugan Venkatesh, Chokalingam Selvaraj and Ravi Chandran Selvaraj took 2 wickets each, giving away 3, 10, 11 and 18 runs respectively in 1.3, 3, 4, and 4 overs accordingly were enough bowling figures to restrict Defenders in the first innings.
CSK then needed just 62-4 in 13.5 overs to celebrate their 4th victory, winning by 6 wickets. Hariharan’s bowling figures were enough to get him the Player of the Match accolade, as he spent 3 minutes in the second innings, retiring hurt and not facing any ball.
MMG continues to suffer defeat, as they lost on Oval A against Karizma, who now lie 6th with 6 points. Karizma won by 41 runs, after they limited MMG to a score of 130-7 against their 151-5 in the first innings.
Zubair Riaz was adjudged Man of the Match with 64-45. His team mate, Raman Madhu had his name on the batting performance with 55-46. Although MMG lost, Daniel Kwabena Anefi was among the best performers, scoring 53-34 while Kumar Vikram took 3-22 in 4 overs.
BGC saw off Ras Bingi in the afternoon on Oval A with 5 wickets after a 105-4 and 109-5 in 13.1 over results.
Devender Singh Malik won his 4th Man of the Match award with a score of 60-35. Benjamin Amoah of Ras Bingi improved on his individual batting performance with 51-63.
Salt n’ Pepper were the last victors on the day, defeating Don Bruce by 125 runs on Oval B. After scoring 166-6 in the first innings, Salt n’ Pepper limited Don Bruce to 41-10 in 14 overs.
Shajahan Razak was named the Player of the Match, taking 3-18 in 4 overs.
Sajeev Sundharesan scored 60-39 while Paul Anthony scored 39-36 to contribute to their Teams total score.
Before the penultimate matches, Supreme comes up next against Defenders on Oval A, whereas Ras Bingi plays MMG in the morning of Sunday, July 11, 2021. Both Matches expects to be interesting as a win for either of the 2 matches separates them; MMG and Ras Bingi all yet to pick points, while Supreme and Defenders on 8 points apiece.
In the afternoon CSK will make a case for themselves, as they face another tough side, Salt n’ Pepper on Oval A and Don Bruce meets BGC on Oval B.
The GFA Prosecutor has charged the five persons in relation to misconducts after the Ghana Premier League match between Dreams FC and Berekum Chelsea at the Theatre of Dreams in Dawu.
Head Coach of Dreams FC Vladislav Viric has been charged on three counts of misconduct with Berekum Chelsea Head Coach Abdul Hanan-Abu also charged on one count of misconduct.
Two Officials of Dreams FC, Haruna Seidu, Kofi Akosa Agyei and a Player Agyenim Boateng have all been charged for misconducts in the said match.
The charged Officials and the Player are expected to submit written statements of defence or choose the option to appear before the GFA Disciplinary Committee to answer to the charges.
Italy beat Spain on penalties to reach the Euro 2020 final after an enthralling semi-final at a noisy Wembley.
After Alvaro Morata’s penalty was saved, Jorginho strolled up to score and set up a final with either England or Denmark in London on Sunday.
Federico Chiesa looked as if he had sent Italy – who are unbeaten in 33 games – to the final in normal time with a delightful curled finish to cap off a quick counter.
But Morata stepped off the bench to slot an equaliser with 10 minutes to go after a one-two with Dani Olmo.
However, the Juventus forward’s penalty miss in the shootout proved costly as Spain lost a semi-final for the first time in their history.
Fears about an empty stadium or quiet crowd proved unfounded despite tickets still being on sale during the day, and with fans unable to fly from either country without having to quarantine for too long to watch the game.
Roberto Mancini’s Italy side have been arguably the best team in the tournament – and had won their previous 13 games – and deserve their place in the final.
However, this was the toughest they have had to work, and they only managed one shot between Morata’s equaliser and the shootout.
It is an especially sad end to the tournament for Morata. He has wasted numerous chances during the tournament – with his family having to endure threats from fans – and his equaliser looked set to change the narrative before he failed from the spot.
CRISTIANO RONALDO and Kylian Mbappe start up front in a star-studded XI made up of players out of contract next summer.
The superstar pair are heading into the final season of their current deals at Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
This top-quality XI is made up of players out of contract at their clubs in 2022Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe are both out of contract next summerCredit: Alamy
And that means, as things stand, they will become free agents this time next year.
So SunSport decided to compile the best team possible made up of those tied down until 2022.
Forming part of a back three, the defender could be let go by Bayern Munich at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, especially with the arrival of Dayot Upamecano.
Raphael Varane
It was Sergio Ramos this year and Varane next for Real Madrid, with the World Cup winner unable to agree on a new deal – Manchester United are looking to pouncethis summer, though.
John Stones
The Manchester City man enjoyed a brilliant season alongside player-of-the-year Ruben Dias, earning himself an England recall and surely a new deal at the Etihad.
Camavinga has attracted plenty of interest from United, PSG and Real Madrid with the French teenager tipped for great things – although Rennes may cash in this summer with a £26million Old Trafford switch.
Paul Pogba
Should Camavinga arrive in Manchester in 2022, though, he may not play alongside compatriot Pogba, with Mino Raiola desperate to get his high-profile client a mega transfer, possibly to the Bernabeu.
Ansu Fati
The comparisons have been made with Lionel Messi due to his breakthrough as a teenager at the Nou Camp – but now he could follow in the Argentine’s footsteps by running down his deal.It could be one in, one out at Old Trafford next summer with Eduardo Camavinga and Paul PogbaCredit: AFP
Pedri
Like Fati, Barcelona are at risk of losing another ridiculous young talent with Pedri, one of the stars of the Euros, also out of contract with no shortage of admirers.
As with Mbappe, there has been plenty of talk about Ronaldo’s future this summer – but that will only intensify at the end of the upcoming season if he does not pen a new deal at Juventus with United, PSG and Sporting Lisbon among the possible destinations.
Other mentions
Among the other top players whose contracts expire on June 30, 2022 are Leon Goretzka, Marcel Sabitzer, Lorenzo Insigne, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Paulo Dybala, Franck Kessie and Dani Carvajal.
Some of the Premier League stars include Chelsea defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, Arsenal strikers Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette as well as Everton’s Colombian ace James Rodriguez
.Ansu Fati is one of a number of Barcelona stars whose contracts expire in the summer of 2022Credit: Getty
Alexandre Lacazette is also into the final 12 months of his deal at the EmiratesCredit: Kevin Quigley-The Daily Mail
Eduardo Camavinga shows of his keepie uppie skills in training.
Asante Kotoko defeated Division One side Asokwa Deportivo 2-1 win at the Len Clay Stadium in the MTN FA Cup round of 16 tie.
The Porcupines will now progress to the quarter-finals after escaping an upset by the second-tier side.
Asokwa Deportivo were obviously the better side for much of the game but they ended up beaten by the Porcupines who offered rare resistance to win the game.
Brazilian import, Fabio Gama broke the deadlock with a well-taken penalty kick in the 13th-minute after Andy Kumi was brought down in the Deportivo box.
The lower-tier side kept pressing for an equalizer but the resilient Kotoko defense thwarted all their efforts.
Imoro Ibrahim in the 37th-minute fed Evans Adomako with a delightful cross to put the Reds 2-0 up to end the first half.
An improved performance from Asokwa Deportivo after the recess gave the impression that they could get back into the match. Though they wasted some opportunities from the corner kick, they managed to reduce the deficit in the 56th-minute through Samuel Owusu.
Deportivo piled pressure on Kotoko in the later part of the match, they could not break down the Porcupines defence.
The defending champions held on to finish the game 2-1 to progress to this season’s MTN FA Cup.
Slavia Mozyr midfielder, Dennis Tetteh insists the standard of the Belarus Premier League is extremely high.
Critics claim the standard of the Belarusian top-flight is of low standard compared to the Ghana Premier League and that it wouldn’t be fair to hand national team call-ups to players there ahead of those plying their trade in the domestic top-flight.
But the former Berekum Chelsea kingpin has parried the criticism, insisting that the quality is up the roof.
He indicated that the Ghana Premier League has quality but the Belarus league is more competitive.
“The standard of the [Belarus] league is not low as perceived by many. When I was in Ghana, Bate Borisov and other clubs were competing in the UEFA Champions League. At times, they even qualify to the quarterfinals stage, ” Tetteh told Hello FM.
“Most of the teams play very good football when I meet them in the league.
“So I don’t think the standard of the league is low. The team’s here employ great tactical play in their games.
“I have been following the Ghana league. I agree watched a lot of Great Olympics games. In their game against King Faisal, you could see that they were far ahead of them.
“Honestly, the league here is far far ahead of the Ghana league. It doesn’t mean I’m disrespecting Ghana’s league because I played there before travelling.
“But the Belarus league is of a very high standard than the way people see it, ” he concluded.
The Disciplinary Committee of the Ghana Football Association have handed a two-match ban to Kotoko Coach Mariano Barreto for misconduct.
Barreto was charged for a breach of Article 38(8)(c) and 34(6)(d) of the GFA Premier League Regulations, 2019 in respect of violations of the Associations Regulations over a comment made after his side’s League match against Legon Cities.
The Portuguese made verbal offensive statements about the performance of the referees by stating that the referee only makes mistakes against Asante Kotoko SC, a statement made without proof and brings the game into disrepute.
Despite not pleading guilty to the charges, the former Black Stars Coach has been handed a two-match suspension in accordance with Article 6(2)(a) of the GFA Disciplinary Code.
In addition, a fine of GHc3,000 has been imposed on him in accordance with Article 6.1(c) of GFA Disciplinary Code.
The situation means the 64-year-old will not be on the bench in Kotoko’s next two matches against Asokwa Deportivo in the MTN FA Cup as well as the League game against Elmina Sharks.
