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SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2017 Ghana target quarters, Egypt chase win PORT-GENTIL: Ghana can secure a place in the quar- so we just wanted to take the three points. “Of course Alain Giresse’s side will now hope to build on that ter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a group we can play better but this is a tournament and every with some fans no doubt hoping to see more of 20- game to spare if they beat Mali in Group D in Port- game will be different.” Not everything is rosy in the year-old Yves Bissouma after the Lille midfielder Gentil today. Avram Grant’s side, beaten on penalties Ghana camp, however. Abdul Rahman Baba’s tourna- starred from the bench against Egypt. “He brought by the Ivory Coast in the 2015 final, set themselves up ment appears to be over after he suffered anterior cru- his freshness to the game but let’s not forget that it is nicely in this year’s tournament by edging out Uganda ciate knee ligament damage in the first half against easier for him to come off the bench in games 1-0 courtesy of an Andre Ayew spot-kick in their open- Uganda. The left-back, who currently plays for Schalke because of his age,” warned Giresse. ing match on Tuesday. on loan from Chelsea, has now been flown back to It was not a vintage performance from the Black Germany to undergo further tests and possibly surgery. Egypt goalkeeping crisis Stars but, on a terrible playing surface, Grant is only Meanwhile, Harrison Afful is struggling with what Egypt disappointed in their first appearance at interested in winning matches for now, regardless of could be malaria, and Ghana also went to the wrong the Cup of Nations after a seven-year absence, with the manner in which they do it. “In this tournament at training ground on Thursday. When they eventually star man Mohamed Salah being substituted in the the start it’s important to take the points and then you turned up at the right venue their players were forced second half following a poor display. The record sev- have to come to your best at the right time,” said the to sit on the team bus for an hour because Uganda en-time champions also lost goalkeeper Ahmed El Israeli former Chelsea coach. “In the last tournament we were still using the pitch. West African rivals Mali Shennawy to injury, and with Sherif Ekramy also in played very good against Senegal in the first game and showed that they are a team to be taken seriously the treatment room suddenly coach Hector Cuper we lost, even if at the end of the day we got to the final, when they drew 0-0 with Egypt in their first outing. has a bit of a crisis. — AFP Yiadom’s journey from Barnet to Black Stars PORT-GENTIL: When Ghana got to the final of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Andy Yiadom was plying his trade in the fifth-tier of English football. Now the 25-year-old is a member of the Black Stars squad in Gabon alongside the likes of Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan, hoping to play a part for Ghana as they bid to win a first Cup of Nations since 1982. It has been an unlikely rise to the international stage for the versatile full-back, who worked under Dutch legend Edgar Davids at Barnet, a modest club from north-west London. His per- formances as captain there in the fourth tier last season led to a move to second-tier Barnsley, from Yorkshire in northern England, and from there a call-up by coach Avram Grant to the Ghana squad for the Cup of Nations. “I was playing for Barnet for a good four years and then last year I signed for Barnsley and obvi- ously there things have been going well, I caught the attention of the national team and got called up and here I am,” Yiadom told AFP at the Ghana team hotel in Port-Gentil, the home of Gabon’s oil industry. Yiadom started with Watford but had to drop down the divisions before now working his way back up. His first call-up came for a 2018 World Cup qualifier in Egypt last November, after Grant had FRANCEVILLE: Senegal’s, Moussa Sow, centre, Sadio Mane, right, are seen in action as Zimbabwe’s Elisha Muroiwa, left, reacts seen him perform well against the Newcastle during the African Cup of Nations Group B soccer match between Senegal and Zimbabwe at Stade de Franceville Stadium. —AP United of Christian Atsu, a star of the 2015 tour- nament. “It is a wonderful experience. I am hon- oured to be here,” adds Yiadom in a quiet spot Senegal end dismal run outside a hotel which, bizarrely, has its own zoo where the star attraction is a gorilla. The Cup of Nations can be a culture shock to those coming from Europe, and there is not much in steamy, by reaching last eight sweaty Port-Gentil that will remind Yiadom of Barnsley, an old mining town. Ghana are sharing the same hotel as Uganda, FRANCEVILLE: Senegal put a string of dis- (against Tunisia), we won. Today we goals scored or the drawing of lots. Senegal who they beat 1-0 in their opening Group D astrous Africa Cup of Nations campaigns played well and won and we have quali- wasted two chances to score before Mane match on Tuesday with Yiadom watching on behind them Thursday by beating fied. “It’s been 10 years since we last made tapped in a Keita Balde cross on nine min- from the bench. “A few years back I never would Zimbabwe 2-0 and becoming the first qual- the quarter-finals. Now we have done it utes after Saivet carved open the have thought I’d be playing in the Africa Cup of ifiers for the 2017 quarter-finals. The Group and I congratulate the players. “I am very Zimbabwe defence with a superb pass. Nations so to be here is wonderful. I’m learning B match was all but over as a contest after proud of the guys. Now we have to contin- Saivet doubled the lead four minutes later new things, taking in a different tournament, only 13 minutes in Gabonese city ue like this.” by curling a free-kick over the defensive because the Africa Cup of Nations is massive.” Franceville after Liverpool star Sadio Mane Tunisia recovered impressively from a wall and past goalkeeper Tatenda Mkuruva. Born and brought up in London to Ghanaian and Henri Saivet scored. first-match beating by Senegal to defeat A rout seemed on the cards as Senegal parents, Yiadom says he has visited the west Since finishing fourth in 2006, the Algeria 2-1 and become favourites to finish played keep-ball at times, as if in a training African country several times and describes it as Senegalese have suffered a horror run in runners-up and also secure a last-eight session, while increasingly frustrated “a beautiful place.” He did not represent the the premier African football competition, place. A draw with Zimbabwe in Libreville, Zimbabweans chased shadows. The sole country at youth level but he insists his different failing to get past the group stage three in a fixture scheduled to start at the same southern Africa representatives in Gabon background has not been an obstacle to settling times and not even qualifying twice. Now time as Senegal against Algeria, will clinch did have a half-chance before half-time, but in with his new international colleagues. “When I they are guaranteed to top Group B-what- second spot. Algeria, considered likelier star attacker Khama Billiat shot weakly at came in here it was very welcoming, players like ever the result of their final fixture against quarter-finalists than Tunisia before the Abdoulaye Diallo. Senegal continue to Ayew and Gyan have played in the UK as well so I battling Algeria next Monday. biennial competition kicked off last stamp their authority on the match in the have come in here and learned from them. “The goal today was to qualify and we Saturday, are in serious trouble. second half and Mane was foiled twice in Everyone is very welcoming even though I am have done that,” said Senegal coach and Only if they beat Senegal and quick succession by Mkuruva and Czech new to this squad,” he said. —AFP 2002 World Cup star Aliou Cisse. “Even Zimbabwe beat Tunisia might the Desert Republic-based defender Costa when we played badly in the first match Foxes squeeze through on goal difference, Nhamoinesu.— AFP .

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