Although the last time Ghana won an Africa Cup was in 1982, they have done so four times. Only Egypt and Cameroon have achieved this more often. The Pharaohs and the Indomitable Lions triumphed seven times and five times respectively in the final.
Despite the presence of some stars, the Black Stars remained winless even against outsiders
The Black Stars, who are 52nd in the FIFA rankings, therefore have grand expectations ahead of every AFCON. And at the one in Cameroon, the Ghanaian team had to bow out of the tournament in the preliminary round. What is more, they took home just one point. In Group C, Ghana recorded a 0-1 against Morocco, a 1-1 against Gabon and a 2-3 against the Comoros. The Lions of the Atlas represent the second-best team on the continent. However, the Black Stars faced the world number 89 and the world number 132 in their other two matches.
And there, a team with players who earn their money in the English Premier League should not miss a beat. But Daniel Amartey (Leicester City) and Thomas Partey (Arsenal) fell short of expectations. The same was true of Jordan Ayew, who competes in the Championship with Welsh club Swansea City, and his brother André Ayew of al-Sadd.
Rajevac second team boss era ended after a few months
We will see how the premature exit from the Africa Cup will impact the squad. However, it is already clear that the Serbian team manager Milovan Rajevac had to take his leave after four months. For the 68-year-old Serbian, it was his second period as Ghanaian team coach. After all, he managed the Black Stars from 2008 to 2010, when he made football history by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Now the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is once again looking for a team boss. The plan is to sign a younger coach. If this does not happen within a short period, an interim one will be on the sidelines in the World Cup play-offs.
Also Nigeria will compete in the World Cup play-offs with a new team coach
Ghana will play against Nigeria. Here, the Black Stars will have the first leg at home on 24 March, before visiting the Super Eagles five days later. The Nigerian national team, ranked 36th in the FIFA rankings, will also compete in these matches with a new team coach.
Portuguese José Peseiro succeeds interim coach Augustine Eguavoen, who in turn replaced German Gernot Rohr. With Eguavoen, Nigeria reached the last sixteen, where they were beaten by Tunisia, who on paper are the fourth-best national team in Africa.
Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. So, she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at very close quarters. And that sparked her enthusiasm for football. Since she loved to write since childhood, Alice began to engage in journalism while still at school....
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By Alice Kopp
Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football. Since she has loved writing since childhood, Alice began to study journalism while still at school. It was very convenient for her that her class took part in a project of a German daily newspaper. She was also allowed to write for the children's pages of an Austrian daily newspaper and to get a taste of the sports department of the same medium. This is how she received her first press accreditations, which was of course anything but a matter of course for the then 18-year-old.
Although she was partly advised against it, Alice decided to study journalism and communication sciences. After a few years, she decided to use the exams she had taken as an elective. Nevertheless, she applies the knowledge she has acquired in her further professional life. The same applies to her language skills. In addition to her mother tongues German and Italian, Alice is also proficient in English and Spanish. She also understands French and can use this language in research.
During her studies, Alice was involved in an Austrian football club. At the same time, she wrote for a total of three Austrian portals and worked as an Austria correspondent for an Italian-language online medium. This collaboration started during Giovanni Trapattoni's era at Red Bull Salzburg and continued during EURO 2008. This gave her the opportunity to interact with Trapattoni as well as with Italian journalists.
From the following year, Alice initially worked with a Swiss portal before discovering sports betting content for herself. On the one hand, this kept her in sports journalism, and on the other, it broadened her horizons. And that both in the context of the sports betting industry and with other sports as well as countries. In the field of sports journalism, she focused in particular on football from around the world, volleyball and beach volleyball.
In addition, she naturally wrote several guides, bookmaker profiles, bonus articles and other content for betting enthusiasts. She did this for the same company for about ten years, writing articles in German and Italian. She also built the Italian-language website together with the managing director. Meanwhile, Alice started working with another Austrian football club. Furthermore, she joined the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS) in 2016. This gives her the opportunity to watch teams and athletes on the ground relatively often.
Not only sports betting, but also radio
In January 2019, the next step in her professional development followed. For: she started creating premium content on the topic of sports betting. In the process, she finally put out feelers to almost all countries and all continents. And this was not least due to the fact that both German and English-speaking users subscribed to her content. Nevertheless, Alice continued to use her knowledge of Italian, among other things. On the one hand, because she regularly exchanges ideas with Italian colleagues, and on the other, because she works with a web radio station.
The Corona crisis had a strong impact on the sports world and on interest in sports betting, primarily in the early days. Therefore, a fresh start was necessary and, on balance, Alice found the fields of activity that suited her best. She also writes articles for an agency on almost all disciplines as well as on eSports and content for a German online medium.
Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football.
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