Ghana defender Pantsil refuses to criticise terrible Nelspruit pitch

1. jb says:

   February 3, 2013 at 6:55 pm

   GFA should formally ask the venue to be moved.. South Africa has many first class pitches. Why do they choose to play one of only two semi finals on such a pitch..Why not Port Elizabeth or some other place?They did not include this in the WC two years …so why now..no respect for Africa?

   Reply to this Comment
   • tzooh says:

     February 3, 2013 at 8:36 pm

     Mbombela was used in the World Cup

     Reply to this Comment
     • GH FUO, THINK BIG!!! says:

       February 3, 2013 at 10:19 pm

       MENTALITY RULE NUMBER 7…..

       7. Don’t complain about the facilities

       Reply to this Comment
2. jimmy says:

   February 3, 2013 at 7:40 pm

   Just love the pitch. It will help you. If you fight it, it will fight you. Love and appreciate it… It simple but truth.

   Reply to this Comment
3. mashud jozi says:

   February 3, 2013 at 8:17 pm

   I have with u.when they won last year they did complain

   Reply to this Comment
4. Viper says:

   February 3, 2013 at 8:23 pm

   GFA should be demanding a change in venue,this pitch is unacceptable.

   Reply to this Comment
5. Unknown says:

   February 3, 2013 at 8:32 pm

   After the group stages and today’s quarter final they still don’t realize this pitch is a complete shame? I hope this does not affect our play and that we come out on top, preferably injury-free!

   Reply to this Comment
6. jb says:

   February 3, 2013 at 8:43 pm

   IF GHANA MEETS B-FASO ON this pitch, Ghana will be at a disadvantage…Faso players used to playing in the desert sand….

   Reply to this Comment
7. Africa4Ghana says:

   February 3, 2013 at 9:27 pm

   That pitch can never be changed today or tomorrow.The cities hosting the matches won it via bidding process and if any change is done, it will affect the budget of the municipality that is hosting the matches- Mbombela.I also learnt that CAF made it clear to the countries that played there after many complaints that, there is no plan to move the matches away to another city and went by saying that plan A, B, and C is Mbombela. I do agree that the pitch is very bad, but lets hope it improves a little better than what we are seeing on TV.Go Blackstars go.

   Reply to this Comment
8. Africa4Ghana says:

   February 3, 2013 at 9:41 pm

   @ jb. Mbombela hosted these matches in 2010 WC.

   2010-06-16
   13.30
   Honduras
   0–1
   Chile
   Group H
   32,664

   2010-06-20
   16.00
   Italy
   1–1
   New Zealand
   Group F
   38,229

   2010-06-23
   20.30
   Australia
   2–1
   Serbia
   Group D
   37,836

   2010-06-25
   16.00
   Korea DPR
   0–3
   Cote d’Ivoire
   Group G
   34,763

   Reply to this Comment
   • Viper says:

     February 3, 2013 at 10:15 pm

     Thats not the point,if the pitch hosted world cup matches,that was then.The pitch is unfit to host matches now and considering the country has so many other stadia with good pitches play on.

     Reply to this Comment
     • GH FUO, THINK BIG!!! says:

       February 3, 2013 at 11:01 pm

       LOOK, S AFRICA SAYS THIS IS THE PITCH AVAILABLE. U THINK GH IS SPECIAL THAN THE OTHER NATIONS WHO PLAYED ON THAT PITCH/ IF U DONT WANT TO PLAY. JUST FORFEIT THE GAME, AND LET BURKINA MOVE ON.

       Reply to this Comment
   • jb says:

     February 4, 2013 at 12:56 am

     the condition then was different from what it is today…South Africa know it does not meet FIFA standards and CAF know that too…but they not acting.. no respect for Africans by Africans…South Africa should be punished for this….banned from hosting games for 20 years

     Reply to this Comment
9. A concernend citizen says:

   February 3, 2013 at 10:44 pm

   Although i would not like to criticize the pitch because we are going to play there and just to keep positive but i would like to say that we are in the 21st Century so why South Africa is still living in the 18th Century with this horrible pitch?.

   Reply to this Comment
   • GH FUO, THINK BIG!!! says:

     February 3, 2013 at 10:59 pm

     MASSA, GO TO GH AND COMPLAIN ABOUT THE FACILITIES. IF NYANTAKYI DARES COMPLAIN ABOUT THE FACILITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA. SOMEONE BETTER GIVE HIM A SLAP! LOOK AT THE FACILITIES WE HAVE IN GH IN THIS SAME 21ST CENTURY? ARE WE NOT ALL AFRICANS? LAST I CHECKED, GH AND S AFRICA WERE IN THE SAME DAMN CONTINENT! NKWASIAS3M!

     Reply to this Comment
     • Viper says:

       February 4, 2013 at 9:18 am

       There is a difference between a group stage match and a semi-final match..

       Reply to this Comment
10. PEACE says:

    February 3, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    This could be a blessing for Ghana. Let’s pray luck comes our way.

    Reply to this Comment
11. Africa4Ghana says:

    February 3, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    @ Viper. I agree with you , but lets look at the explanation by the manager of Mbombela.The reason given by the manager was questionable but the information available is clear that we can not do anything about it than to do all things possible to win against Burkina Faso on that pitch.READ THIS:

    Mbombela offer explanation
    for bad pitch
    Mbombela Stadium Manager
    Roelf Kotze says the reason
    the pitch has been
    unplayable is because of
    extreme bad weather
    Posted: 31 January 2013 Time:
    10:25 am

    Mbombela Stadium Manager
    Roelf Kotze says the reason
    the pitch has been
    unplayable is because of
    extreme bad weather
    conditions in the area
    recently.
    Located in Nelspruit, the stadium
    is in the spotlight after teams
    that played there during the
    2013 Africa Cup of Nations group
    stages slammed the “sandy”
    pitch.
    Togo captain Emmanuel
    Adebayor had some strong
    words last night on the state of
    the pitch, saying: “To be honest
    with you I’m very sorry but it’s a
    disgrace for our continent to be
    playing on this pitch when it’s on
    TV around the world.”

    KickOff.com contacted Kotze,
    who explained why the pitch is in
    a shocking state.
    “We had 250 mm of rain on
    December 28 so there was an
    algae outbreak which is difficult
    to control chemically. Now, the
    problem is you can’t treat that
    drastically with chemicals
    because you don’t want to kill
    your grass,” he says.
    “So they had to use other
    methods by first of all
    mechanically trying to remove
    some of the algae by raking the
    pitch and secondly, by placing
    loose sand on the pitch so that
    dries off the algae. But just
    after that they had another 250
    mm of rain so that made it 500
    mm of rain over a short period.
    All of that contributed to the
    outbreak of algae,” he says.
    “So now the main concern that
    the players had after playing
    here was because of the loose
    sand on the pitch and the reason
    the sand was there was to try
    to contain the algae.
    “So what has happened is that
    last night after the match [Togo
    vs. Tunisia], all the loose sand has
    been manually removed from
    the pitch to expose the grass up
    to the normal level,” Kotze
    continues.
    The next match at the stadium
    will be Togo against Burkina Faso
    on February 3 in the
    quarterfinals and Kotze has
    allayed fears that the pitch may
    still be unplayable.
    “We are confident that
    [removing the sand] will
    strengthen the grass

    Reply to this Comment
12. selfmade says:

    February 4, 2013 at 1:44 am

    These black star players are cowards and have no fucking balls between their fucking thighs!!! How can players with huge experiences be cowards like this??!!! Always talking big but chicken out against even debutants!! Our play sucks big time and these average players are all fucking coward!!! Viva the revolutionciooooooooo!!!

    Reply to this Comment
    • Godbless says:

      February 4, 2013 at 4:17 am

      Cowards indeed, i was become annoyed when i see them play especially our defenders and Asamoah Gyan.

      Reply to this Comment
      • Godbless says:

        February 4, 2013 at 4:19 am

        i meant i always become

        Reply to this Comment
13. Chu says:

    February 4, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    Good tough mentality. Win in every condition make you undisputable champs. We have won qualifiers on more dreadful pitches

    Reply to this Comment