APRIL 10

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2020
Balotelli’s failure to
unleash potential sad
• Enock Barwuah says of brother
ENOCK BARWUAH, the
younger brother of
Mario Balotelli Barwuah
has expressed disappointment
in his brother
for playing at only 30 per cent of
his potential.
The maverick goal poacher
joined Brescia to much fanfare at
the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign,
returning to the town where
he spent his childhood.
It was hoped the return to his
hometown would help Balotelli rediscover
his confidence, but that
hasn’t been the case.
He has found the net just five
times from 20 matches in Serie A
this campaign.
Barwuah is frustrated to see his
brother, who he thinks has so much
talent, continue to let himself down.
“The one thing I would like to
tell Mario is that if he played at 100
per cent, he’d be unstoppable. Instead,
he only plays at 30 per cent.
He’s very sensitive, so if the slightest
thing goes wrong, he lets his
head drop and doesn’t perform. It’s
not easy to play with that much
pressure on your shoulders,” Enock
told Calciomercato.com.
“We were both so happy when
he signed for Brescia. Mario didn’t
think twice, he accepted immediately
and dropped all the other proposals.
"Unfortunately, everything he
says or does gets painted in a negative
light. That’s why he wrote ‘Why
always me?’ on his shirt.
“I get so angry when I see Mario
being the victim of racist abuse. I’d
like to be by his side on the pitch to
support him. I think harsher penalties
are needed against these fans,
but you can’t force someone to
change their minds.”
Balotelli Barwuah was born in
Palermo to parents from Ghana,
but was raised by an Italian family,
taking on their name Balotelli, even
if the adoption was never made official.
•Mario Balotelli
Black Stars facing possibility
of three games in a week
• Emmanuel Keyekeh
Death of our club owner has
affected us this season
• Says Karela's Emmanuel Keyekeh
KARELA UNITED midfielder,
Emmanuel Keyekeh, has attributed
the team’s woes in the
2019/20 Ghana Premier League
season to the death of their club
owner, David Brigidi.
The former Nigerian Senator
bought the Ayinase-based club in
2013 and bankrolled them to earn
a promotion to the Ghana Premier
League.
Prior to his demise, the club
was in the top four of the
2017/18 league, which was truncated
following the Anas number
12 expose which was aired on
June 6, 2018.
Though the club played in the
finals of the NC’ Special Competition
tier 1 that year, they are yet
to find their rhythm in the ongoing
league as they lie 17th with 11
points after match week 15.
Keyekeh, in an interview with
Cape Coast-based YFM, said,
’’We are not happy about where
we are on the league log. The
death of our boss has really affected
us because aside him motivating
the playing body with
money, his presence during match
days was a morale booster for us.”
He pleaded with the fans to
disregard any reports of him joining
either Hearts of Oak or Asante
Kotoko.
“I’m still a Karela player and I
have more than six months left
on my contract. To be honest, my
dream is not to play in the Ghana
Premier League after Karela and
I’m not in a rush to leave Karela.”
THE SENIOR National Soccer
team would have to play three
matches in a week later this year
to haul in fixtures postponed
because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Black Stars will have
three matches to catch up following
Fifa's cancellation of all
international matches scheduled
for June.
Coach CK Akonnor's men
will travel to face Bafana Bafana
of South Africa on June 6 in a
top-of-the-table clash in their
Africa Cup of Nations qualifying
group.
Already matches against
Sudan in the qualifiers have
been postponed.
Fifa is planning‚ reports say‚
to press national teams to catch
up quickly and ensure the international
calendar gets back on
track before the end of 2020.
As the calendar stands now‚
Ghana must play Sao Tome and
Principe home in September in
their last Cup of Nations Group
C qualifier and then in October
and November begin their
World Cup qualifying campaign
against Ethiopia‚ South Africa
and Zimbabwe.
But the fixture list is to be
shifted out‚ leaving the Black
Stars having to play Sudan
(twice) and South Africa in a
seven-day spell between September
2-8 and then Sao Tome
and Principe and‚ possibly‚ their
opening two World Cup qualifiers
from October 7-13.
That will put the qualifying
calendar back on track with a
further World Cup qualifier set
for November.
• Flashback: Black Stars
Three matches in seven days
in September would mean Black
Stars coach CK Akonnor would
need to select a bigger squad
and use more players.
The coach could save his
best XI for the Bafana Bafana
clash and two games against
Sudan before that against Sao
Tome with second stringers.
They would still be fancied to
win against the tiny island nation.
Ghana must play Sudan
twice before taking on Bafana.