Muntari Holds Key Against In-Form Manchester United Website
Sir Alex Ferguson has been quoted as saying during training and the build up to the FA cup clash with Portmouth, "We need to keep Muntari quiet". It could be just word from the master of English Football ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final clash against Portsmouth on Saturday." Maybe United want to wind up the combative left footer? Well it could prove to be a useless cause. It is no secret that Sulley Ali Muntari has quickly earned a reputation as a cool customer in the Portsmouth dressing room and on the pitch. Nowadays, the Ghanaian midfielder who rarely speaks out of turn at the star studded club, prefers to do his talking on the pitch..and Muntari's manager 'good old Harry' as he's called, loves it. Against Manchester United, a lot would be expected of the Ghanaian who was recently described in the Daily Mirror as "... one of Redknapp's best buys last summer". The article further predicted that Muntari will "move on to a bigger club". But will he deliver? A big yes according to the man who tracked him for 9 months just to bring him to England for a cool 7 Million pounds. "I like it here but I have to see how things go in the next few months." If you are looking for diplomacy in Sulley Muntari, please look elsewhere. The boy plays his game and speaks his mind and that's it. If you don't believe me...(READ ALAN SMITH'S FANTASTIC INTERVIEW WITH MUNTARI -www.telegraph.co.uk/sports - dated 08.12.07 ) The last time Muntari came face to face with Sir Alex Ferguson's red army, he saw red. That league match and the lessons of doing the right thing at the right time may have been learnt just in time for the big match on Saturday. At the immediate post match hostilities an English journalist asked the obvious about Muntari's challenge and the red card that followed; "He's one of the best, otherwise I would'nt have gone for him" was Redknapp's in your face reply. Obviously quick to defend his NEW African baby. So there I was sitting with Muntari and his ex-starlets team mate Ibrahim Attiku in the company of Muntari's stunning girlfriend Menaye on his rest day and he did not even want to stress on the Manchester United game. The player was more interested in what was happening with football back home. "Are we playing in Accra or Kumasi?" referring to the Black Stars' opening World cup tie. Back to the game on Saturday... "It will be tough but we know what we have to do at Old Trafford to win and I'm confident our coach will devise a winning strategy." As I pressed him further on the Manchester United game he was quick to shift focus onto other matters including his up to now very cordial relationship with the media in the UK and before that in Italy. What about the Ghana media I asked. This brought him to narrate an incident during the just ended African Cup of Nations. After a training session in the rain, a journalist walked up to him and asked in a local tongue "I have Sulley with me and he will tell us about the next game against Ivory Coast..." Sulley do you think we can win...you are LIVE on air." Sulley was trying to make the point that some sports journalists sometimes provoke players to behave in a manner that may not be complimentary. Yet the player was humble enough to admit the media in Ghana had helped him more than harmed him. Amazingly, Muntari has not had the chance to watch a single playback of the Black Stars matches in the Ghana 2008 games! Perhaps he will be pleasantly surprised to see how his game has matured and improved over the past 10 months. The player many feared "would by all means" get a red card during CAN 2008 proved us all wrong....thankfully. So what's next in the Sulley Muntari story I asked? "I don't know...just keep playing and playing and praying to God that I get to the top." Follow the trail of Muntari as well as other top Ghanaian players in Europe exclusively on myghanafootball.com with Yaw Ampofo-Ankrah : www.myghanafootball.com MANCHESTER UTD vrs PORTSMOUTH Statistics courtesy BBC BIG-MATCH FACTS Manchester United against Portsmouth is the only tie that guarantees a Premier League club in the semi-finals. Treble-chasing United, the most successful club in FA Cup history, are facing a Premier League club for the 11th successive tie. They ended Portsmouth's interest in the competition at the fourth round stage last season. Portsmouth have not knocked the Red Devils out of the FA Cup for 74 years, and have not won in any competition at Old Trafford for over half a century. The League ladder United are seven places higher than Pompey in the Premier League table. MANCHESTER UNITED Current form Won the last three, culminating in Tuesday's 1-0 home win over Lyon to land them a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Undefeated in five, and lost one of 13 (all competitions). Recent FA Cup performance The 11 times winners and seven times runners-up, are chasing a record 26th appearance in the semi-finals. They have failed to reach the last four once in the last four years. The Manager United have never been knocked out by top-flight opposition under Sir Alex Ferguson, and have only failed to reach the final in 12 of 20 attempts. They have won the cup a record five times in the stewardship of the current manager, who has led out the side for the final on eight occasions. Ferguson's 100th tie in the competition was a most emphatic 4-0 home win in the fifth round over an Arsenal side with different priorities. FA Cup fact Already accounted for Aston Villa (a), Tottenham (h) and Arsenal (h) in this cup run. PORTSMOUTH Current form Sunday's 3-1 league loss to Everton at Goodison Park was their first defeat in five (all competitions). Recent FA Cup performance The 1939 winners and 1929 and 1934 losing-finalists, are hoping to add to their five semi-final appearances. This is their best run since reaching the quarter-finals in 2004. They have not appeared in the last four since 1992, when, as a Second Division side, they went out on penalties to Liverpool. The Manager Harry Redknapp has never won the FA Cup as a manager. His only Cup success was winning the Intertoto with West Ham in 1999. FA Cup fact Famously held the trophy for seven years after their 4-1 triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1939, in front of 99,370. The competition was put in abeyance in 1939 due to the Second World War, so Portsmouth are the longest holders of the cup in the history of the oldest knock out competition in the world. Derby were the next winners in 1946. HEAD to HEAD All competitions This seasons Premier League meetings resulted in a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park when both sides ended with 10 men, and 2-0 to United at Old Trafford in January, courtesy of a double from Cristiano Ronaldo. Portsmouth have lost their last seven visits to the Theatre of Dreams, and have not won there since a 0-3 top-flight triumph on 19 October 1957. FA Cup This is the sixth time these clubs have been drawn together. Pompey won the first two after replays, United have won the most recent three including last seasons.
Source: MJFM
