Soccer News of Sunday, 17 July 2011

Source: Tribune (Nigeria)

Stop crying wolf •Ghana FA boss tells Dream Team

PRESIDENT, Ghana Football Association, (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, says he is stunned by reports of inhuman treatment of Nigeria's Dream Team V in Kumasi, Ghana, during the second leg of a decisive All Africa Games qualifier last week.

Nigeria carried a 3-1 win to the match but lost the return leg to Ghana's Black Meteors 2-0, thus will be at the Maputo 2011 football event on away goals' rule

Nyantakyi said he learnt the Dream Team V and their officials, on their return home, bandied stories of unfair treatment by Ghana before the second leg match.

'' It is unfair if our Nigerian brothers complain and spread lies,'' Nyantakyi told Saturday Tribunesports yesterday in Frankfurt, Germany.

''The question that should be asked is that if there was a maltreatment, Did our Nigerian brothers petition the Match Commissioner? If they did, what was the reaction they got? The fact is that these things did not happen.

They complained about accommodation but the Match Commissioner has the right to order us to provide a befitting hotel for them but nobody lodged any complaint.''

He blamed Nigeria's Dream Team for the notorious mentality of ‘African time.’

''If I were in a position, I will place a big fine on the Nigerian players.

They failed to comply with the schedule of pre-match warm up and when it was time for the Black Meteors to come out for warm-up, they did it at the right time.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian team felt offended that they had to share the pitch with our players and Nigerian fans on the stands threw water bottles on our players.

''If anything, we should be the ones to complain but there are many Nigerians in Ghana and we believed that the fans threw the water bottles when they were instigated by the behaviour of the Nigerian players''

He though agreed there was a psychological warfare by the rival fans.

''Some fans came with shaving powder and called it juju but if the Nigerians had matched us, no juju could have stopped them.

The GFA boss said Ghana is fired by the allegations and the Black Stars will be ruthless on the Super Eagles in a London friendly come August 9

''London is a neutral ground and we will confirm we are better than Nigeria,'' he boasted.