This is Edin Dzeko, the Wolfsburg man linked variously with Arsenal, Manchester (both City and United), Chelsea and …yes, you get my drift. Ghana play his country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, today. The game would be played in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Strange, I can’t remember the last time we played in someplace like that and we haven’t had any history with them either. Meaning that we have nothing to compare, generally.

But we do know a few things.

They are affectionately called the Lilies or Dragons. They were 2nd in their WC qualifying group for SA 2010. That they have some very good lads: Vedad Ibisevic (has been named Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Player of the Year), Edin Dzeko, Elvir Rahimić and a few others. I know we chose them because they may have a similar playing style to Serbia, who’ll be our group opponents in South Africa.

The peek
It will be interesting to see how the Serbian coach approaches this one. Would he opt for the defensive tactics that characterized Ghana’s player during Angola 2010? Or would he fashion a fluid attack? Maybe even introduce some new players or he’ll assign new roles to others? That is why this game is so crucial, because it is potentially the only friendly we’ll play before the final World Cup squad for SA is named.

Team News
Richard Kingson is reported not to have taken part in training this morming in Sarajevo. Not sure why but I hope it’s not too serious.

Jonathan Mensah was called in to replace Isaac Vorsah who sustained an injury last weekend. Jonathan Mensah is a solid player as well so I don’t have fears in that area. The 19-year-old centre-back was an unused substitute at the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. Mensah was a member of Ghana’s 2009 Fifa Under-20 World Cup winning team and he is on-loan at Spanish Segunda division side Granada from Udinese.

Yaw Antwi was called in to replace Quincy Owusu Abeyie, who is injured. Yaw Antwi plays in Serbia so it was the most convenient short hop. He has not featured for Ghana since CHAN 2009 in Ivory Coast, if my memory serves me right. I know him personally and he’s a very decent chap.

Ghana squad
Goalkeepers: Richard Kingson-Daniel Agyei
Defenders: Samuel Inkoom, David Addy, Jonathan Mensah, Eric Addo, Lee Arday, Ibrahim Ayew

Midfielders: Emmanuel Agyeman-Badu, Anthony Annan, Kwadwo Asamoah, Dede Ayew, Sulley Muntari, Haminu Draman

Strikers: Yaw Antwi, Mathew Amoah, Asamoah Gyan, Prince Tagoe.

Bosnia squad
1. Kenan Hasagic GK Istanbul BB SK,
2. Asmir Begovic GK Stoke City FC
3. Emir Spahic DF Monpellier Herault SC
4. Safet Nadarevic DF FC Eskisehispor
5. Sanel Jahic DF AEK Athens
6. Boris Pandža DF NK Hajduk Split
7. Džemal Berberovic DF FC Denizlispor
8. Zvjezdan Misimovic MF VfL Wolfsburg
9. Samir Muratovic MF SK Sturm Graz
10. Elvir Rahimic MF CSKA Moskva
11. Dario Damjanovic MF FC Kaiserslautern
12. Sejad Salihovic MF TsG Hoffenheim
13. Miralem Pjanic MF FC Olympique Lyon
14. Haris Medunjanin MF FC Valladolid
15. Edin Džeko FW VfL Wolfsburg
16. Zlatan Muslimovic FW PAOK FC
17. Vedad Ibiševic FW TsG Hoffenheim
18. Admir Vladavic FW FC Red Bull Salzburg
19. Ermin Zec FW NK Šibenik
20. Senijad Ibricic MF NK Hajduk Split

Looking forward to it. It’s 4:30pm GMT on Metro TV here in Ghana. Sorry, I cant LiveBlog. Work issues.

Till later.

According to FIFA, it’s been created to recognise the impact made by young footballers in their first FIFA World Cup. We’ve seen a great many good young players come out of the four-yearly showpiece. From Pele in 1958 to Lukas Podolski in 2006 and many others in between, the world has seen some truly remarkable guys come out of the mundial.

The Hyundai Best Young Player will be announced before the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, with a Hyundai Tucson ix 35 given to the award winner.

Ghana would be in South Africa this year and I’m wondering if any of our lads can win this award. Of course winning this award is highly dependent on the entire team’s progress so this means that we have to get to at least the quarters or semis.

At the moment my picks from our current Stars team would be Kwadwo Asamoah, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, Dominic Adiyiah and Andre Ayew.

About the Award
The award will be presented to the player who creates the biggest impact in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Judges will be looking for certain technical qualities such as skill, style and charisma but also other important facets such as a sense of fair play and a genuine impression that they are playing merely for the love of the game.

Selecting a Player
The FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) takes the following criteria into account when selecting the Hyundai Best Young Player: Exceptional skills, Youthful and refreshing playing style, Creativity and inspiration, Tactical maturity and efficiency, Fan recognition as a result of entertaining performances, Role models for young players, Positive attitude – Fair Play.

What young player would make the most impact at South Africa 2010? I’m sure names like David Silva ( Spain), Marek Hamsik (Slovakia), Mesut Ozil (Germany) would come up…

(Thanks to FIFA.com for the info)

However, his performance yesterday for Pompey vs Southampton after he came on as a sub was enough to tweak my radar a bit. I am not joining the calls for his hasty inclusion just yet, but if he continues to play like this, ignoring him could be heretical.

This was a derby game and we know how those go around the world: loud, wild, passionate affairs. Pompey were on the back foot as they badly needed the win against Southampon. Sometime in the second half, Quincy was introduced by Avram Grant. Then, he does this:

So, it’s 1-0 but it does not last as the goal is equalised. Suddenly, in the 75th minute, Quincy gets the ball in his part of the field, speeds (which is his trademark, mind you) into the opposition area, gives an unbelievable pass that beats two Southampton defenders, the ball falls to Aruna Dindane who finishes off nicely. 2-1. Here it is:

Ten minutes later, he delivers the icing on the cake by setting up the final goal by Jamie O’Hara 85th minute. Portsmouth have thus advanced to the quarter-finals after the thrilling clash on Saturday. Here’s the last assist:

But where would he play?
If the current Black Stars squad is fully fit, I would automatically say Quincy should play in place of Haminu Draman, who has been given a lot of chances but has not grabbed with both hands. Quincy’s speed alone may rival Draman’s but more importantly his finishing has definitely improved while Draman’s, as at the end of Angola 2010, was a freaking disaster that drove people up the walls.

Dropped for attitude issues, like Muntari?
So, should Quincy be considered or not? Some point to attitude problems. Unfortunately, it appears the talented guy may yet still have that fiery streak in him.

He was transferred to Russian club Spartak Moscow for an undisclosed fee in 2006 but he joined Spanish side Celta de Vigo on loan for the 2007–08 season and in the last window he joined Birmingham City on loan. However his attitude problems continued to persist.

In September 2008, he got on the wrong end of his Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish after his bad reaction to his substitution in a league game against Doncaster. The Black Stars man, who had won praise from McLeish in the past for his early performances went straight to the dressing room after he was substituted 39 minutes into the game.

McLeish said later: “I explained to him that you don’t go to the dressing room, you support the team from the dug-out when you come off. I don’t want to take a gifted player and say he has to defend for us but Wayne Rooney does it and the top players in the England team did it in the week. It is part of the modern game at the top level. We certainly give the players the fitness to do it, it is just the understanding he needs.”

Although Quincy was apologetic to McLeish and his team mates his attitude problems emerged again when he was (later that year) called up to play for Ghana. The national coach, Milovan Rajevac, warned Quincy that he faced a long spell on the sidelines if he did not improve his attitude towards the national team.

Milo then excluded Quincy from the 22-man squad for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Lesotho in Sekondi. Why? Then 21-years at the time, Quincy was released by Birmingham well ahead of the previous month’s qualifier against Libya, failed to join his colleagues in the national team until the last minute.

He claimed that he missed two scheduled flights to Tripoli for the game!

Rajevac said: “Quincy has not been dropped from the Black Stars forever but he must think about why he has been dropped as guidance for the future. Players must show that they are ready to die for the national team and his attitude before the Libya game was not good enough. He plays in United Kingdom along with Essien, Laryea Kingston and John Paintsil and they all managed to arrive in time but he opted to tell stories.”

So, I ask again, should he or shouldn’t he be brought back into the fold, or is it past and we should forget it?

PS: He was released from Ajax (where he had been for nine years) at 16 years, because of…you guessed it…“attitude problems.” Or maybe, just maybe, we’re jumping the gun and overreacting.

Should Quincy Abeyie be recalled to the Black Stars?(online surveys)

More were expected by late evening and this morning too. Those in included big boys – captain Stephen Appiah and his deputy John Mensah.

Appiah arrived from his Italy base while John Mensah arrived from England. He has completed his switch to Sunderland from Olympique Lyonnnais. Goalkeeper George Owu and Asamoah Gyan are also around. Asamoah scored at the weekend for Rennes.

Also expected from around the world are John Pantsil, Matthew Amoah, Eric Addo, Haminu Dramani, Samuel lnkoom, Opoku Agyemang. As for Michael Essien, Anthony Annan and Richard Kingson, they will be expected to be in Tuesday night.

Ghana lead Group Four of the World Cup qualifiers with all nine points. Ghana will surely qualify for the World Cup if they beat Sudan and Mali hold Benin in Coutonou.

Ghana delivered the win before the end of the first half but still pressed for more goals in the second. Despite that the Chipolopolo increased pressure on the Stars in the latter stages especially after Michael Essien made way for Stephen Appiah.

It must be said that the Swiss-based Samuel Inkoom did very very well in the game, not least by securing a penalty which Junior Agogo converted well. Those who had been to the Stars earlier training session said it was a replica of what he learned at the time.

The win was a redemptive gesture for both Agogo and another troubled man – Sulley Muntar. Sulley has not been in the green zone of fans especially after his mother said her son was indispensable.

Speaking of Inkoom, the injury to some players in the team and others’ inability to secure UK visas meant he played in midfield for the first time ever in his career.

He played like he’d been there all these years and I was impressed.

So the goals came from Sulley Muntari, Stoppilo Sunzo (own goal), Junior Agogo and Haminu Dramani. Stoppilo Sunzo scored Zambia’s only goal as well.

Says coach Rajevac: “We needed to keep winning, so it was important that we did that. Now we will go into the next game with our confidence really high.

“The players who turned up showed just why Ghana is such a good team because even without many regulars, it was a good performance.”

The Black Stars’ next World Cup Qualifier is against Sudan at home on 6 September.

Starting team: George Owu/William Amamoo, John Paintsil, Harrison Afful, Eric Addo, Francis Dickoh, Anthony Annan/David Telfer, Michael Essien/Gladson Awako, Samuel Inkoom, Haminu Draman/Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari/Chris Dickson, Junior Agogo/Kwame Quansah.

Subs: William Amamoo, Stephen Appiah, Gladson Awako, David Telfer, Chris Dickson, Kwame Quansah

Eric Bekoe hasn’t played in national colours for one whole year and Stephen Appiah, due to his clubless issues, has also not been around since last featuring for Ghana against Benin in Kumasi.

Samuel Inkoom has been named in the side but with the Black Satellites on duty in Switzerland ahead of the World Youth Championships in Egypt, it is unlikely he will make the journey to England too.

Appiah is also back after he opted out of Ghana’s last 2 games because he said he had ‘family issues.’ I’ve stated earleir that I think that decision was wrong, to be honest.

Goalkeepers: Richard Kingston (Wigan Athletic, England), George Owu (Al Masry, Egypt)

Strikers: Asamoah Gyan (Rennes, France), Mathew Amoah (NAC Breda, Holland), Prince Tagoe (Hoffeinham, Germany) and Eric Bekoe (Egypt)

Japan says it has reached an agreement with its Ghana counterparts to field its best team including Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari in the game.

The Blue Samurai will travel to Enschede, Holland on September 5 to face the Oranje and then four days later will meet Ghana in Utrecht.

“Both teams have promised to play members who have taken part in (World Cup) qualifying,” Japan coach Takeshi Okada said.

“The road trip will help us obtain first-hand knowledge of teams that have the potential to reach the last four.”

Currently, the Asians are 40th in the rankings and looking at the kind of players they possess, that game should be interesting.

On the premise that both teams would really play first-team guys, let’s see what the Japs have.

They do not have what you would call world class threats but they do have some decent names in there: Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble, FRANCE), Shunsuke Nakamura (Espanyol, SPAIN), Makoto Dasebe (Wolfsburg, GERMANY) and Junichi Inamoto (Rennes)

However, the real danger men who put the ball in the net regularly on the national level include Naohiro Takahara and Nakamura (both have 23 goals and are among the country’s all-time high scorers).

But these two guys are usually called for really really important matches and I like to think that they would consider Ghana an important prospect.

The rest of the lads Japan have used in recent friendlies are all home-based. Hey, don’t be fooled as it is their speed that may be a source of worry.

The team has won 6 out 0f its last 10 games ( some of the opponents were Yemen, Bahrain – twice, Finland, Qatar, Chile, Belgium and Australia).

Not bad at all.

For those who can’t wait, Ghana recently went to Mali and won 2-0.

Kwado Asamoah put Ghana ahead in the 68th minute and Mathew Amoah added a second to make it official in the 78th. Click those links to see the vids (just click “close” to get past the annoying adverts).

So two games in and it’s looking good for Ghana in Group D:

Next game is Sudan away on the 20th June.

In fact you may be forgiven if you suggested it.

Yep, he is that popular and famous. But his women issues are leaving people scratching their heads. More on his other flings (yikes!) and mini-scandals later.

Ms. Dela Ackumey, a woman who many had long expected to be Michael’s wife, is tugging the Chelsea man’s purse. The argument is simple.

Essien says they are not married. Dela says they are. The argument may look simple but the legalese surely aren’t.

Essien and Dela started hanging out about four years ago and those who know them say they were very much into each other. It is worth noting that at the time Mike’s Lyon career was looking good. And obviously, the woman in Dela took notice.

What I gather is that the French francs being sent to Ms. Dela Ackumey meant that she knew her boy was a catch…and so she pressured him to start marriage rites.

Here’s where it becomes dicey. Even though they split last year, Ms. Ackumey insists the Bison had performed marriage rights on her and therefore wants their ‘divorce’ to reflect that.

Ms. Ackumey is from Anlo in the eastern part of Ghana where the Ewe tribe are predominantly settled. However, Essien’s lawyers (led by a member of the influential Ofori-Atta family) say the said rites the Chelsea player performed did not amount to marriage rites in the traditional sense.

The lawyers also say that even if the rites amounted to marriage rites, the ceremony was contrary to what the big-pound earner wanted.

The French francs being sent to Ms. Ackumey meant she knew her boy was a catch…and so she pressured him to start marriage rites.

Media bonanza

And so the stage is surely set for what is turning up to be a media event of considerable size. Already, the Chelsea and Ghana midfielder has grown into something of a national icon since his big money move to Chelsea three seasons ago.

In anticipation of the animalistic nature the Ghanaian and world media can morph into, the court may let the two testify in camera. Especially as Ms. Ackumey says she has video evidence to show that they were married.

Let-the-circus-begin-!

Next month’s Super Eagles v France not on? – Kickoff Nigeria