Ghana is Africa’s highest contributor to MLS

In the 20-year history of the Major League Soccer (MLS), Ghana has contributed more players to the league than any other African country.

An infographic released by the official website of the MLS indicates that out of 184 all-time African-born MLS players, Ghana has contributed 29 players followed by Nigeria with 21 players.

There have been 19 players in the MLS who traced their roots from Cameroon with South Africa contributing 18 players so far.

Liberia has contributed 15 players followed by Gambia with 11 players. Sierra Leone and Uganda have contributed eight players each.

Other contributors are Senegal and Ivory Coast, seven players each; Zimbabwe and DR Congo, six players each; Mali, four players; Angola, Cape Verde and Mozambique, three players each.

Ethiopia, Morocco, Togo and Zambia have contributed two players each while Algeria, Botswana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania have contributed a single player each.

Five Ghanaians and their clubs clinch Audi 2015 MLS playoffs spots

Dominic Oduro

At least five Ghanaian internationals will feature for their clubs in the 2015 Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs.

At the climax of the MLS season, clubs are busily scrambling for playoffs spots while others are only waiting for the commencement of the post season after clinching their tickets.

A minimum of five full Ghanaian internationals have already booked a place in the playoffs with their respective clubs.

Other Americans with Ghanaian background are also in the mixed.

In the Eastern Conference, Lloyd Sam and New York Red Bulls clinched this season's first playoff spot on September 20. They have avoided the Knockout Round and secured an automatic berth in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Lloyd Sam

They have also clinched the top spot in the Eastern Conference as well as a spot in the 2016-2017 CONCACAF Champions League and still remain in contention for the Supporters' Shield.

Harrison Afful’s Columbus Crew SC locked up their playoffs spot on October 17 after a road win in Toronto and they still remain in contention for an automatic berth in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Also in the playoffs is Dominic Oduro and Montreal Impact who also clinched a playoff spot on October 17 after their 1-0 road win against New England. They also remain in contention for an automatic berth in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Kofi Opare and D.C. United clinched a playoff spot on October 2^nd and still remain in contention for an automatic berth in the Eastern Conference Semifinals as well.

Qualifying from the Western Conference is Gershon Koffie and his Vancouver 

Whitecaps who also clinched a playoff spot on October 8^th. They also remain in contention for an automatic berth in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Kofi Opare

LA Galaxy who clinched a playoff spot on October 4^th have in their mixed Gyasi Zardes who is an American with a bit of Ghanaian background. They also remain in contention for an automatic berth in the Western Conference Semifinals.

According to MLS, 12 teams - the top six from each conference - at the end of the regular season, qualify for the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs.

In the Knockout Round, the third seed will play the sixth seed from their conference and the fourth seed will play the fifth seed from their conference in a single knockout match.

The winners from the Knockout Round matches will advance to their respective Conference Semifinals.

The lowest seeded teams that advance from the Knockout Round will play the first seed team in each of the respective Conference Semifinals while the highest seeded teams that advance will play the second seeded team in each of their respective Conference Semifinals.

The four Conference Semifinals will be decided by two-game aggregate series, with the lower seed hosting the first leg and the higher seed hosting the second leg.

 If the aggregate score is tied after 180 minutes of play, the away goals rule will apply so as to be consistent with CONCACAF and FIFA practice.

If the series remains tied, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety, followed by penalty kicks, if necessary.

The away goals tiebreaker will not apply to overtime in the second leg of any two-legged playoff series.

The two Conference Championships will be decided by a two-game aggregate series, with the lower seed hosting the first leg and the higher seed hosting the second leg.

 If the aggregate score is tied after 180 minutes of play, the away goals rule will apply so as to be consistent with CONCACAF and FIFA practice.

Gershon Koffie

If the series remains tied, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety, followed by penalty kicks, if necessary.

The away goals tiebreaker will not apply to overtime in the second leg of any two-legged playoff series.

The MLS Cup will be a single championship match hosted by the finalist with the most regular season points. If the two finalists have the same number of regular season points, the tiebreakers for playoff qualification will be applied to determine the host team.

If the score is tied after 90 minutes of play, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety, followed by penalty kicks, if necessary.

Harrison Afful

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Ghana’s Kwadwo Poku – The hottest commodity in MLS?

At age 23, Ghana’s Kwadwo Poku has become one of the hottest commodities in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Even in the presence of legends Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo, the young Ghanaian midfielder was still grabbing headlines for New York City FC with 26 games, four goals and seven assists to his name.

It has remained the wishes of NYCFC fans that Poku remains in the starting XI and until October 13, Ghanaian fans have been requesting his inclusion into the national team while some United States soccer fans were harboring a subtle hope that the Ghanaian may switch nationality in the near future.

In fact, when he was invited to play for Ghana in a friendly against Canada, MLSsoccer.com, in their report, assured that Poku’s participation in that game will not cap-tie him to Ghana.

When Ghana head coach Avram Grant finally paid heed to Ghanaian fans and handed him an international debut against Canada in Washington DC, Poku was given only eight minutes in an advanced central midfield role, but he seized the initiative to such an extent that one journalist in the postgame press conference wondered why he wasn't called on sooner, while another asked Grant point-blank if the NYCFC cult hero would be called back in the future.

Poku's international debut is the latest and greatest milestone on his rise from obscurity to sudden fame. The powerful midfielder was playing in the fourth-tier NPSL less than two years ago, and he admitted that the eight minutes against Canada was a surreal moment.

 “It feels good. It was my first time in the team and playing with these guys is different – although I'm from there, it's really different playing with guys you've never played with”, he told MLSsoccer.com.

“It's been crazy. I know people back home – even my parents – will look at this, and it's something I've always dreamed about. It's been a long journey, but hopefully, intending to God, it's working out fine.

 “Everybody was telling me, 'great job.

 “That's one thing they were looking to bring in the team, because they didn't have that type of somebody who wants to get the ball and just make something happen. I think they are happy to have me”, Kwadwo Poku noted.

Six months ago, almost nobody knew who he was. Nowadays, you can find 25,000 New Yorkers chanting his name, begging NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis to bring on the Ghanaian.

Poku has been a revelation in NYCFC's inaugural season, and he seems to have embraced his role as a game-changing substitute.

What sets him apart is that he has the size and strength usually associated with a No. 9, but is a devastating passer of the ball from anywhere in the attacking third, especially when faced up as a No. 10.

If you can pass the ball, you can play the game, and Poku plays it well. Come next season, expect him to shed his super-sub label and become a focal point.

Those with technical eye see him to be a bit of an enigma in this league. He has some gifts on the ball – if he gets the ball in space and is running at a guy, he can wrong-foot him and hit a shot, but he also has an eye to hit a pass that can make the defense come apart.

It is believed that Kwadwo Poku averages 2.7 chances created per 90 minutes, most among players under 24years in MLS this season.

Kwadwo Poku was transferred from the Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) on January 23, 2015.

He signed with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the NASL on January 24, 2014, made 25 appearances for Atlanta, scoring twice, including the winning goal in the 91st minute against MLS side Real Salt Lake in the fourth round of the US Open Cup.

In 2013, he led the Georgia Revolution (NPSL) in scoring while notching a team-high seven assists, scored a hat-trick in the Revolution’s 4-3 win over the Real Colorado Foxes in the first round of the US Open Cup.

He is said to have played in the youth system of his hometown club, Asante Kotoko SC, in Kumasi, Ghana.

His role model is Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, who he had a chance to meet in the preseason.

Growing up in Ghana, Poku played the same holding midfield position and was a defensive midfielder in NYCFC’s first ever match against St. Mirren.

Poku came to the United States with the hopes of playing college soccer.

However, when he couldn’t get the proper paperwork sorted out, Poku went to play for the Georgia Revolution in the NPSL.

Poku immediately proved himself one of the top players for the Revolution, leading the team in goals in 2011-12 and assists in 2013.

He scored a hat trick in a first-round 2013 US Open Cup match against Real Colorado Foxes, a match attended by then Atlanta Silverbacks technical director Eric Wynalda.

He signed Poku to his first professional contract in January 2014.

He shone again in the 2014 US Open Cup with the Silverbacks, scoring a game-winning goal against Real Salt Lake.

Real Salt Lake, Chicago and Seattle battled to obtain his rights with the Sounders eventually winning the Discovery Claim.

However, Seattle didn’t offer Atlanta much for Poku and NYCFC eventually traded a conditional 2017 draft pick for his rights.

Before he became a fan favorite at Yankee Stadium, Poku was a cult hero in Atlanta.

The son of a former professional soccer player, Poku’s aunts and uncles helped him when he was making his transition to living in the United States.

Additional Information: MLSsoccer.com.

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C. K. Gyamfi – A true Ghanaian Soccer Legend!

Many soccer pundits in Ghana and the world over may remember Nana Kumi Gyamfi aka Charles Kumi (C. K.) Gyamfi for his coaching prowess that won Ghana three Cup of Nations trophies in 1963, 1965 and 1982.

It is only the 1978 victory that is not directly linked to him as a coach.

Others may also remember him for his influential roles with Kumasi Asante Kotoko, the then Republicans and how he left Kotoko to form Great Ashantis before joining Accra Standfast and latter, Hearts of Oak.

But I remember Nana Kumi Gyamfi for the few quality encounters I had with him. Of course, I count myself lucky to have interviewed him in his North-Kaneshie residence on two different occasions.

In May 2009, he granted me an audience when we went through his entire life as a player, coach and administrator, and I was amazed at the number of successes he chalked in the game.

At one point, Nana opened a big box full of medals and his candid words were simple: “I must tell you that I have forgotten when and how I got some of these medals; you know it’s been a long time”.

That pushed me to ask him if he had ever dreamt of writing a book to encapsulate all these numerous successes.

His answer: “I want to outdoor my autobiography as part of my 80^th birthday celebrations”.

His 80^th birthday was due in December 2009 but unfortunately, he could not accomplish that dream.

In fact, I was completely shattered when I got the news that he was in the process of putting his memoirs together – his cherished dream since 2009 – when he passed on peacefully.

Then, I asked myself why mother Ghana allowed such a great man to die with all his ideas?

This is a man who told me bluntly that “I carried my talents from my mother’s womb!”

I remember, Nana said in our special interview that he started falling in love with soccer when he was six years.

“I started my football career when I was about six years, I started playing in the junior leagues and in the school and we were even playing with orange and tennis balls and later we started playing what we called ‘Gutter to Gutter’. After that we learnt how to head the ball with tennis ball and it was a competitive game as well.

“I started as a goalkeeper and I realized it was too dull so I decided to go upfront and fight for the ball so that I can score goals”, he noted with some sort of nostalgia.

This is a man who totally believed in Ghanaian coaches. Even at the point of his death, he was still the patron of the Ghanaian Soccer Coaches Association.

I once asked his opinion about foreign coaches and he did not mince words at all.

“Going for foreign coaches is not the way. When we give our Ghanaian coaches the chance, they will do better. They have to learn; in this case they (FA) have to spend on them to help them take coaching courses outside. When we went to Libya, nobody gave us a dog chance but we won so I was thinking that the trend will continue when I left but it was not done.

“People were not happy to see me lead the Black Stars to the 1963 African Cup but I had the total support of President Kwame Nkrumah and we won the trophy and defended it in Tunisia. But after that there was a coup that saw Nkrumah out and the authorities also sacked me”, he recollected.

I can go on and on and on about my one-on-one conversation with this great man but I will also like to recount his advice to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) when I once accompanied President Kwesi Nyantakyi and some members of the FA to pay a working visit to Nana.

Let me quote his first advice to the GFA at that time.

“You have to be firm, bold and courageous in your decision making to ensure that Ghana football gets better and better.

“Ghanaians are fastidious and will always ask for more so you shouldn’t rest on your oars but strive to achieve a lot of successes for the nation in general and the FA in particular”

“Stand firm and do the right thing for posterity will judge us all”

He further stressed that the FA should not entertain elements of indiscipline if the association wanted to achieve a lot of goals.

Even at that point, his passion for the game of soccer was not in doubt as he was of the believe that he still had a lot of knowledge to impact on the game and was always ready to advise the FA if they called on him.

Nana Kumi Gyamfi lived for the game and surely, Ghana has lost a true legend!

He came, he saw and he conquered!

May he rest in perfect peace!!!

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MLS 2015: Contrasting results for Ghanaian players

Last weekend’s round of matches in the Major League Soccer (MLS) witnessed seven Ghanaians in action for their various clubs.

But it turned out to be a weekend of mixed results as far as our Ghanaian legions are concerned.

In a game dubbed as one of the marquee matches in the MLS, Kwadwo Poku and his New York City FC were cut to sizes after LA Galaxy hammered them by 5-1. Poku’s impact was not felt even though he played the entire duration of the game.

There were high expectations for the young Ghanaian to dazzle in the mix of the likes of Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Giovani Dos Santos, David Villa and Andrea Pirlo, but his day was relatively quiet and that surely contributed to New York City’s huge defeat. With a record of 7-12-7 and a point build up of 28, NYCFC currently occupy the seventh place in the Eastern Conference, which is a place below the cut off point for the playoffs.

Midfielder Gershon Koffie was on the winning side when Vancouver Whitecaps defeated FC Dallas by a lone goal. Koffie saw full action for the Canadians and are hopeful to make it to the playoffs. They are currently second behind LA Galaxy with 45 points.

David Accam played the entire game while Patrick Nyarko was in action for 63 minutes when Chicago Fire slumped to a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Colorado Rapids. Chicago Fire are languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table.

Striker Dominic Oduro played 90 minutes for Montreal Impact but not even the introduction of Didier Drogba could save them from a home defeat at the hands of Philadelphia Union. The 0-1 defeat means Montreal will keep the sixth position of the Eastern Conference with 28 points and a slim chance of playoff qualification.

Harrison Afful’s impressive 70 minutes output helped his side Columbus Crew to a 3-2 victory over Sporting KC. Columbus Crew are third with 38 points in the Eastern Conference.

Adam Larsen Kwarasey was the usual trusted pair of hands when Portland Timbers settled for a 2-2 draw with Houston Dynamo.

Portland, with 11-8-7 record are 4^th with 40 points in the Western Conference hoping to clinch a playoff spot.

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COLUMBUS CREW SC'S NEW GHANAIAN DEFENDER HARRISON AFFUL THANKS FORMER BLACK STARS DEFENDER JOE ADDO

Ghanaian defender Harrison Afful has shown appreciation to former Black Stars defender and current corporate affairs manager of Accra Hearts of Oak, Joe Addo for playing a bigger role in his move to the MLS.

Afful yesterday completed a move to Columbus Crew SC as a discovery signing and according to the Black Stars defender, it was Joe Addo who recommended him to head coach Gregg Berhalter.

"I think I have to give all the credit to Joe Addo, the former Black Stars defender; he was the one who made the move. I learnt he played with the coach before and they talked about me and he showed the coach some clips about me and he was also interested. I am just happy to be here and I want to enjoy some playing time". 

Columbus Crew are second behind DC United with 31 points in the Eastern Conference and are gunning for the MLS playoffs.

Afful joins the likes of Patrick Nyarko, Dominic Oduro, Gershon Koffie, Adam Larsen Kwarasey, David Accam and Kwadwo Poku in the league.

There are other players with Ghanaian backgrounds like Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Kofi Opare, C. J Sapong, Kofi Kwarteng Frempong Sarkodie, Gyasi Zardes and Lloyd Sam not forgetting Ishmael Yartey who joined the league in the middle of the season in a loan move for Portland Timbers.

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Ghana FA adopts FIFA TMS Intermediary Regulations Tool

Ghana FA adopts FIFA TMS Intermediary Regulations Tool

FIFA TMS announced today that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is the first Member Association (MA) to adopt the FIFA TMS Intermediary Regulations Tool (IRT).

On 1 April 2015, FIFA’s new “Regulations on Working with Intermediaries” came into force. The regulations require all MAs to register intermediaries who are engaged in transactions involving players and clubs affiliated with their association and to annually publish aggregate figures.  

In line with FIFA TMS’s goal to support MAs in fulfilling their regulatory obligations, the IRT will enable the GFA to gather the necessary information in order to comply with FIFA’s regulations. The information to be collected includes: all agreed remunerations or payments that are made or will be made to an intermediary; intermediary declarations; representation contracts and consents and declarations about conflict of interests for all involved intermediaries. Most importantly, at the end of March each year, the GFA will be able to generate a report reflecting the necessary data for publication in accordance with the Regulations on Working with Intermediaries.

The IRT is integrated with the Transfer Matching System (ITMS and DTMS). As such, the GFA has the added benefit of being able to manage professional player transfers and related intermediary involvement in one system- increasing administrative efficiency and visibility over transfer and intermediary activity within their association.