Ghana completed the 4-Nation Invitational in Eindhoven with a 1-4 loss to the strong select side from the Province of Brabant.

Ghana started strongly playing some coherent hockey. Elikem Akaba raised the tempo of the game with a well taken goal in the first half.

The Brabant response was swift as they threw more men at the Ghanaians. They levelled in a matter of minutes and went ahead with two goals to end the first half.

The second half was fiercely contested but it was the men from Brabant who eventually got the fourth goal as the Ghanaian challenge faded with time. The Ghanaian team exhibited a lot of fatigue and their inexperience at such an international competitions was abundantly evident. The match was one of two that completed the 6 day competition which saw the marked the end of the was the last

Although no official ranking was eventually established for this competition, the Netherlands teams of Young Orange (Netherlands U 21) and the Province of Brabant placed first and second respectively with Ghana placing 3rd ahead of Trinidad and Tobago and Portugal. From the standings, Ghana placed top of the 3 other nations that participated in this competition and are believed to have bagged some valuable ranking points in reward for their effort.

The 4 nation tournament was accorded an enormous regional and national attention in the Dutch media (television and print) with the Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago match receiving special attention.

The President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Els van Breda Vriesman attended two matches and the colourful social functions the hosts organised in conjunction with the teams. The teams showed much appreciation to the President who received a special gift from the Ghanaian contingent. Additionally, FIH big wigs Peter von Reth and Gabrielle van Doorn attended some matches including the T&T, Ghana match and later interacted with the teams and their officials.

The FIH Tournament Director, Frank van 't HEK, FIH Umpires Manager, Peter Worrall and Neutral umpire John Heron performed wonderfully in this special tournament. All the teams fielded an umpire each and they also had a good time and an excellent opportunity to gain experience. World Hockey umpire Richmond Attipoe officiated on behalf of the Ghana team.

The Ghana Women’s team also concluded their training camp and test matches in the Netherlands with the enormous support of KNHB coach Ineke Botden who partnered the team coaching staff. Former Dutch international and World Champion Wietske de Ruiter, who worked with the team in Accra also joined the coaching staff in the Netherlands and attended matches of the Ghana ladies. To help the players unwind and see a bit of the beautiful city of Amsterdam, she offered a special boat trip on Amsterdam Canals to the full 51 persons Ghana delegation. The teams also visited the Men’s Champion’s Challenge in Boom, Belgium to watch world class hockey.

Though AOQ host Kenya were not in Eindhoven, their coaching consultant Roger van Gent attended most of the Ghana matches and could best be described as “spying” for Kenya.

The 4-nation tournament was well organised and coordinated by Oranje Zwart (Orange Black) Hockey Club under the kind auspices of the KNHB.

Ghana Agrees to Work with FIH Coaching Consultants in Nairobi

Ghana Hockey finalised arrangements with FIH Coach Reinoud Wolff and FIH recommended Coach Ms. Ineke Botden to extend their assistance as coaching consultant to the Ghana Men and Women respectively during the AOQ.

The two coaches who made an enormous contribution to transform the Ghanaian teams expressed interest in working with the teams in view of the potential they possess. They were optimistic that with additional guidance, the teams will make a great impact in the Nairobi qualifier. Ghana Hockey and the two coaches are considering long term relations which will be discussed in due course.