Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo’s team defeated host Cote d’Ivoire 1-0 in the final to secure the victory.

Speaking at the ‘Meet the Press’ session in Accra on Tuesday; Sports Minister Isaac Asiamah said the financial package was government’s compensation for a good job done.

“The ministry has approved $32,000 for our Queens and from here, the chief accountant will pay their money to them,” he said.

“We appreciate their hard work and this is our way of saying thank you.”

Ghana will host the 2018 Women’s AFCON and the tournament formed part of preparations for the competition which kicks off in November.

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By: Fentuo Tahiru/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A second-minute strike from Janet Egyir was all it took for the 2015 All Africa Games champions to prevent the Ivorians from completing a ‘host-and-win’.

Having already met in the opening Group A match, the final game at the Robert Champroux Stadium was tipped to be an uncompromising encounter and it did.

Though barely had the whistle gone for kickoff that the Queens began harassing the Ivorians and the result was instant as Egyir finished off a rebound from an earlier freekick taken.

The Ivorians tried all they could to equalise and possibly win, but their efforts were thwarted by the resolute Queens side and not even four minutes of added time, during which the Ivorians earned two corner kicks could change the scoreline.

In addition to winning the trophy, the heroine of the day, Egyir, was adjudged the Best Player of the competition, while captain Portia Boakye won the Top Scorer’s prize with four goals and three assists.

Cote d’Ivoire’s captain, Cinthia Djohore won the Best Goalkeeper’s prize.

Nigeria Super Falcons earlier claimed third place with a 2-1 win over Mali.

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Source: Ghana FA

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A tournament that nobody cared about had once again presented the opportunity for a nation to put in place the necessary structures to ensure that the scenes of joy could be replicated down the years.

There was doubt and uncertainty,pessimism and indifference but nothing soothes the thirst of a Ghanaian better than a comfortable victory over Nigeria in a game of football.

A 4-1 win was great and the likes of Stephen Sarfo,Vincent Atingah and Patrick Razak should see their stock rise after this competition,courtesy of the number and quality of lenses provided to make this showpiece as global as possible.

It made a difference to have a central tournament website that made the accessibility of information less of an adventure.Team sheets were provided via social media along with other necessary updates.

My conversations reveal that the accreditation and media procedures such as post match pressers were also fairly professionally handled,saving all involved the stress.

This was all made possible by the media sponsors of the competition Fox Sports Africa.

The individuals that hatched the idea that birthed this deal have provided a blue print that can be modeled.

Cape-Coast proved that all corners of Ghana are almost equally receptive to the game of football, the quality of the game itself was appreciable but most of all the WAFU tournament has been reborn from the ashes.

The Spanish Assassin

On a regular day dressed in a regular person’s clothes he could pass for a stockbroker or perhaps an attorney, but Alvaro Morata has quickly made the turfs of the Premier League his natural habitat.

A stark opposite in style and approach to the game from Diego Costa whose boots he has the task of filling.

Whatever Chelsea’s ambitions are,they are firmly hitched to the consistent ability of Morata to find the back of the net.

Costa’s goals led to Championships even though he chose to play the devil half the time.

Slate the man all you want but he knew how to get the job done especially in critical games.

Morata however,has swooped on the league almost in angelic style with his gracious glide across the pitch and his assured finishing.

Often accused of lacking the killer instinct and character to be the lead striker for a team his opening six matches will have dispelled any doubt.

For Premier League defenders it has quickly become a case of pick your poison as far as the Spaniard is concerned,as Stoke City would find out.

He makes the art of running the channels a joy to behold and the finesse was on full display for his first,he put the nitros on to leave his marker in the dust and capped it off with the most sublime of finishes for his second.

Positioning and hunger brought the hat-trick and again let it sink in that it only took six premier league matches.

At this rate putting a limit to the number of goals he is capable of scoring in his first season will be foolhardy because he could open the flood gates a little wider than any of us could project.

In the event that he hits a prolonged barren patch,the class that he has displayed in the early phase of his journey should be enough to put the minds of all at ease.

Yes,he has been that spectacular and he is only getting started.

Carmelo Anthony:Phase Three

The Denver Nugget days solidified him as a great scorer,the New York Knicks journey revealed his stubborn side and the different legs of his game as a ball player but Oklahoma City promises the unimaginable.

It is prudent that the savvy role of Sam Presti,general manager of the OKC Thunder is properly acknowledged when Carmelo Anthony’s trade is spoken of.

My jaw literally dropped to be quickly replaced by a smirk that had me thinking,”wow I love the NBA”.

I cannot better describe my reaction to when I first saw the tweet from ace ESPN journalist Adrian Wojnarowski.

New York has agreed to a deal to send Carmelo Anthony to OKC for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a draft pick, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 23, 2017

One of the greatest small forwards to ever play the game was for the first time going to be afforded a real chance to win a ring after a career that had already boasted a scoring title and ten all star representations.

Questions of how he fits into the Thunder line up immediately emerged,along with the debate on who takes crunch time shots now that the Thunder have three all star players.

It is practical to think that Billy Donovan will keep Paul George in his natural wing spot and move Anthony to the four spot where his speed and skill mean that he will be a handful for most power forwards he will face on a nightly basis.

He will benefit from the double teams that his other two superstar team mates will attract, leaving him space to take high percentage looks.

The firepower that the Thunder now posses will mean that fewer games will go down to the wire reducing the occurrence of the crunch time shot.

We are yet to see the Thunder on the hardwood but the addition of Anthony gives them the look of a team that is ready to battle the Golden State Warriors for the Western Conference Crown if they can create the synergy to play together as a group.

The San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets will beg to differ but Melo is as lethal a scorer as any other in the association and his new home in OKC presents him with a chance to dust off the ridicule he has had to endure in recent times.

Finally he has a chance to solidify his legacy.

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By:Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Final Whistle: Lessons from WAFU 2017, Alvaro Magnificent, Melo decisions appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The player was the Man Of The Match against Niger in the semi-finals on Thursday as he assisted Stephen Sarfo’s close range finish in the 79th minute to help Ghana win 2-0.

After the match, he spoke to lead commentator of the tournament, Benjamin Willie Graham, and said that the players would have be prepared to get one over the Nigerians and keep the trophy Ghana won in 2013.

“I just want to tell Ghanaians that we are going to defend the title on Sunday. No matter what happens, we will try to make ourselves and the nation proud.”

The Dreams FC midfielder revealed that the team had been pumped up to get a response after losing 2-0 to Nigeria in the final Group A match on Wednesday and that was the driver behind their performance on Thursday.

“We came into the match with a serious mentality to show Ghanaians that we could win. We only had a winning mentality. We will now go back and prepare for Nigeria so we beat them on Sunday.”

Lomotey’s good work for Dreams FC has earned him a move to Spanish second tier team, UD Extramadura and he is expected to move after the tournament.

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By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Emmanuel Lomotey eyeing WAFU glory on Sunday appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The comments come after refereeing controversies at the last two regional tournaments.

The GFF has submitted complaints to the regional body and the Confederation of African Football over a penalty awarded at the ongoing WAFU Cup of Nations.

“We’re considering our position in WAFU because with all the resources invested in it – to go out in such manner is not fair,” the GFF president Lamin Kabba Bajo told BBC Sport.

“We will probably discuss the issue in a month’s time during our next executive committee meeting.”

The Gambia were knocked out of the tournament when hosts Ghana scored from the spot after Burkina Faso’s Boukari Ouedraogo adjudged a Gambian player had handled the ball.

This is the second consecutive WAFU Cup of Nations tournament in which The Gambia feel they have been treated unfairly.

Two years ago Senegal were crowned regional champions when The Gambia refused to play extra-time following a goalless draw.

They pointed to the fact that the match officials had said the match would go straight to penalties before ultimately reviewing the rules that stipulated extra-time should be played first.

The GFF’s protest also pointed to two other matches that it feels were poorly officiated recently.

One was an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in September 2016 when the Scorpions lost 2-0 in Cameroon, when the recently banned Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was in charge.

The other involved controversial offside decisions during an Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in July 2016 as The Gambia lost 2-1 on aggregate to Guinea.

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Source: BBC

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Ghana’s tie with Gambia is one of 8 first round eliminators in the tournament with the winners progressing to the group stages.

The matches have been split into the two zones operational in the WAFU area.

The matches are:

Zone A in Takoradi: Ghana vs The Gambia, Nigeria vs Sierra Leone, Mali vs Mauritania and Guinea vs Guinea-Bissau

Zone B in Cape Coast: Senegal vs Liberia, Burkina Faso vs Niger, Cote d’Ivoire vs Togo and Benin vs Cape Verde

With 8 teams (which won their first round matches) forming two groups after the first knockout round, the top two teams in each group will advance and the tournament will proceed until the finals.

The tournament will run from September 9 and 24.

The winner of the tournament will take USD 100, 000 in prize money.

The tournament is organised by the West Africa Football Union and it is sponsored by US sports television company, Fox Sports.

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By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 2017 WAFU Nations Cup: Ghana to kick off against The Gambia appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.