This weekend marks the Beach Soccer Premier League’s long-awaited return after the 2014–2015 campaign.
The teams competing in this sector will be hosted by the Laboma Beach Resort in zone 1, with Cheetah Beach Soccer Club hosting Dansoman Beach Soccer Club. In addition, Nungua Beach Soccer Club will host Layoca Beach Soccer Club.
At the Keta Beach Soccer Arena, zone 2’s three-time champions and defending champions Sunset Sports Keta will play host to Ocean Stars Tegbi, while zone 2’s previous champions Kedzi Havedzi Mighty Warriors will take on Vooza Iron Breakers.
The 2023 season will include 14 Beach Soccer Clubs that have registered.
The opening weekend of the first match week is set for June 17–18 in Accra and Keta. The Beach Soccer Premier League match schedule is listed below.
Following Manchester City’s historic triple at the weekend, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger honored Pep Guardiola.
Many have cited the £1.2 Billion the Citizens have spent on signings since Sheikh Mansour’s arrival 15 years ago, but according to Wenger, their current success is mostly down to who is in the dugout:
“I don’t consider it [in terms of the money] like that. Guardiola is a top-tier coach who has managed to stay at that level due of his talent. You need a top-notch coach and top-notch players together for success.
Wenger makes a really good argument here. A football game is ultimately between two teams of eleven players, and the manager’s influence is crucial to the outcome.
Guardiola will forever be remembered in history.
Having already won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League with Barcelona back in 2009, the Spaniard is now the only manager to win trebles in two separate divisions.
Eight other managers—Jock Stein of Celtic (1966–67), Stefan Kovacs of Ajax (1971–72), Guus Hiddink of PSV (1987–88), Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United (1998–99), Jose Mourinho of Inter Milan (2009–10), Jupp Heynckes and Hansi Flick of Bayern Munich (2012–13 and 2019–20), and Luis Enrique of Barcelona (19–15)—have each won one treble.
Guardiola is now, however, in a class of his own, and who is to say that he won’t be able to repeat the feat in years to come?
A weight has been lifted on City
The victory at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul will be more of a relief than anything else for the club’s owners, players, and supporters after multiple failures to win the European Cup in previous years.
The squad has been under intense pressure to win their first Champions League championship, and now that it won, there will be some expectation that City can repeat the feat in the coming years.
The Division One League Super Cup’s local organizing committee has set August 2 as the start date for this year’s off-season competition.
Eight clubs from the Division One League season will compete in the third Super Cup, which will be hosted in Kumasi.
The best third-place teams as well as the top two teams from each zone will fight for the overall victory.
The two-week contest will culminate on August 13, 2023, in Abrankese.
IN other news: Hafiz Konkoni of Bechem United has been selected by Ghana Coach Chris Hughton to play against Madagascar in a TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations qualification this coming weekend.
On Monday, Konkoni will join the team to start getting ready for the important AFCON game in Antananarivo.
The team now has 25 players as Ghana looks to win every game in order to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
During the just concluded betPawa Premier League season, Bechem United’s Hafiz Konkoni featured in 26 games and scored 15 goals.
On Sunday, June 18, 2023, Ghana will face Madagascar at Antananarivo.
Black Meteors have arrived in Cairo to begin their preparations.
The 2023 TotalEnergies African Cup of Nations will be held in Morocco from June 24-June 7, and the Black Meteors have arrived in Cairo to begin their preparations.
The Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram is where the National U23 squad started preparing for the competition weeks ago. They will use the pre-tournament trip to finalize their preparations.
In two groups, the team departed Accra and landed in Cairo on Monday night. However, the team’s base is in Alexandria, where they will undergo rigorous practice sessions before to the competition.
After their match against Madagascar on June 18, Ernest Nuamah, Kamaldeen Sulemana, and Ransford Yeboah Koniigsdoffer, who will be traveling with the Black Stars for the AFCON qualifier, will join the Black Meteors camp.
On June 15, African U23 Champions Egypt will face Coach Ibrahim Tanko’s team in a friendly game. Before departing for Morocco, the team will play another test game.
View more images from the group’s entry into Egypt:
Thomas Partey Arrives In Ghana For the AFCON 2023 qualifiers against Madagascar
Thomas Partey, a midfielder for Arsenal, has landed in Ghana ahead of Ghana’s last 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Madagascar.
The 30-year-old has arrived in the country of West Africa to start getting ready for the match on June 18 in Antananarivo.
Due to his tardy arrival, Partey was unable to participate in the team’s first practice at the Accra Sports Stadium. He will, however, rejoin his teammates at the same location on Tuesday.
Coach Chris Hougton has a full house as he ramps up preparations for the game that has to be won thanks to the arrival of the former Atletico Madrid star.
The Black Stars will be based and train in Accra under the direction of coach Chris Hughton before leaving for Madagascar on June 16th.
However, injuries have caused some alterations in the squad. Inaki Williams of Athletic Bilbao has withdrawn from the team, while Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer of SV Hamburg has been called up in his stead.
BLACK STARS: HAFIZ KONKONI HANDED LATE BLACK STARS CALL UP
Bechem United attacker Hafiz Konkoni have been handed late Black Stars called up by head coach Chris Hughton for next weekend’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Madagascar.
In a statement released on Sunday 11th June that reads,
“Ghana Coach Chris Hughton has called up Bechem United forward Hafiz Konkoni for next weekend’s TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Madagascar.
Konkoni will join the squad on Monday to begin preparations for the crucial AFCON match in Antananarivo.
His inclusion takes the number of players to 25 as Ghana aim to pick all the spoils to make another Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Hafiz Konkoni played 26 matches and scored 15 goals for Bechem United in the just ended betPawa Premier League campaign.”
Ghana will play Madagascar in Antananarivo on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
Lionel Messi has finally opted to join Major League Soccer team Inter Miami, rejecting a sizable offer from Saudi Arabia in the process.
Fans are now yearning to find out what specifically about the U.S. league’s offer convinced Lionel Messi to make the decision. The 35-year-old superstar has been deliberating on his future team since choosing to end his two-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi spent his time in Paris without ever taking home a Champions League trophy, but he did manage to lead Argentina to victory in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, demonstrating that his skills are still among the best in the world.
According to the player, his deal is almost finalized, thus The Sporting News is providing you with all the information we are aware of on his agreement with Inter Miami and Major League Soccer.
Messi contract & salary with Inter Miami, MLS
The contract offer Messi allegedly accepted from MLS team Inter Miami is now unknown very little.
According to the Spanish newspaper Sport, Messi has been given a four-year contract, although Matteo Moretto of Relevo thinks it “should be” a two-year arrangement. Almost no precise information on his contract’s financials is available, and there isn’t much else.
It seems unlikely that Messi, who is 35 years old, would agree to a four-year contract with any team, but there may be valid justifications. For the initial part of his deal, Messi may be loaned to Barcelona, allowing him to play for the team he loves before concluding his career in Miami. Furthermore, given that a four-year deal would expire after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Messi may be planning to end his career at that tournament.
The Athletic reports that one thing we do know is that Apple and Adidas are both contributing to the deal’s sweetening. Apple has offered a portion of MLS Season Pass subscription earnings, and Adidas has also proposed a profit-sharing deal under which Messi will receive a portion of any gains resulting from his relocation.
The fact that Major League Soccer is a “single entity” means that all contracts with MLS players must be formally filed with the league and not the team. Players are then assigned to teams according to a predetermined procedure.
There was a brief news that MLS had offered Messi some sort of ownership deal when rumors about Lionel Messi and Inter Miami first started to circulate over a year ago.
The majority of reports indicated that Messi would be given a 35 percent stake in Inter Miami, and some further suggested that Major League Soccer might create a franchise option akin to the one David Beckham received when he signed on in 2007, which allowed him to own an expansion team for just $25 million—a tiny fraction of the standard expansion fee.
Messi receiving a Beckham-like offer from MLS to own a team is very improbable given how openly Major League Soccer has discussed how challenging the practicalities of such a relationship turned out to be.
But it’s absolutely feasible that Messi may eventually own a small portion of the Miami team, either now or after he retires. In reality, according to an ESPN story, Messi’s Inter Miami offer includes a possibility of acquiring club stock, but categorically excludes any form of financial assistance akin to what Beckham received.
Goalkeeper Jordan Yamoah Amissah of Sheffield United has joined the Black Meteors as one of the players from abroad that coach Ibrahim Tanko invited.
The squad has been practicing in anticipation of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will take place in Morocco later this month.
However, in order to speed up their preparations, players who work abroad have started arriving in camp to join the team. Amissah, formerly a teenager at Borussia Dortmund, will see Sheffield United return to the Premier League after securing a comeback.
The Black Meteors’ technical staff has taken notice of him after he spent the previous season on loan at Burton Albion, where he played a significant part in the team’s overall League One campaign.
He joins Emmanuel Essiam, who was seen working out with the group on Wednesday.
Ghana’s objective in the competition is to make it to the Olympic Games in Paris, France in 2024. Their opponents in group play will be the hosts, Morocco, Congo, and Guinea.
After a 20-year absence, Ghana plans to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time since 2004.
The Black Meteors lost to South Africa on penalties in the 2019 AFCON third-place match, ending their chances of qualifying for the Olympic Games. The contest is scheduled to start on June 24 and end on July 8.
Prior to leaving for the competition in Morocco, the squad is expected to continue camping in Egypt.
EXCLUSIVE: Felix Afena-Gyan Has Been Dropped For U23 AFCON By Coach Ibrahim Tanko
US Cremonese striker Felix Afena-Gyan was among the foreign-based players invited to the Black Meteors – U-23 team by Head Coach Ibrahim Tanko for the 2023 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualifiers double-header against Algeria.
However, Afena Gyan reluctantly opted not to feature for the Ghana U-23 team in the final qualification round, despite the traveling ticket sent to him by the country’s football governing body.
“It was never true that Felix Afena Gyan wasn’t invited to the U-23 team. He was among the ten foreign-based players but he declined the invitation from the GFA.”
According to sources from “Listowell Mensah at Angel Sports; Coach Ibrahim Tanko won’t call Felix Afena -Gyan for this coming U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, which serves as qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games. The tournament will take place in Morocco on 24 June – 8 July this year”.
” Things might change, but for now, he won’t be part of the Black Meteors squad.
8 foreign-based and 15 Ghanaian-based players will camp in Egypt en route to Morocco”.
The top three teams from the tournament will qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics Men’s football tournament in Paris.
Afena Gyan has been capped 7 times for the Senior National Team the Black Stars of Ghana with a goal to his credit and 28 appearances, 2 goals, and 1 assist for his club Cremonese.
Former Hearts of Oak midfielder Anthony Annan has challenged the club’s current players to give their all in order to reclaim lost glories.
Hearts of Oak have had a disastrous Ghana Premier League season, losing six of their past seven games in the Ghanaian top flight.
The team’s home defeat against RTU has pulled them into the relegation zone, as they sit 11th in the league standings with 45 points, making their last encounter away to Berekum Chelsea a must-win.
The former Ghanaian midfielder acknowledged in an interview that Hearts of Oak’s caliber has declined and pleaded with the players to give it their best to restore the club’s glory.
From his headquarters in Norway, he told Pipapipa Media, “We all know the hardships the club is going through, but I want to tell the players that it is part of football and that they should continue to put forth their best even during the bad times.
There are chances for you when you give your all for the club because it is a large club. The standard of hearts has decreased, therefore the present players must fight hard to restore the club’s glory years,” he continued.
Hasaacas’ Anthony Annan joined Hearts of Oak in 2005 and played for the team through 2007.
He performed spells with Hasaacas and Hearts of Oak before moving on to more favorable terrain.
The midfielder, who hasn’t announced his retirement yet, has previously played for Schalke 04, 1860 Munich, Osasuna, Beitar Jerusalem, and other teams.
