The striker touted as one of the great hope of Ghana football after his heroics at the World Youth Championships in Egypt last year spent a season at AC Milan without appearing in a single competitive game before his loan move to the Serie B side for whom he played 13 minutes in their 1-2 loss to Sienna. Many of those eager to see members of that Under-20 World Cup winning side make gains at club level will be delighted that at least he will be getting minutes of competitive football now. Adiyiah’s temporary departure from the San Siro followed the arrival of Kevin-Prince Boateng who made his competitive debut for AC Milan after appearing as a 76th minute substitute in the club’s 4-0 routing of Lecce on the opening weekend of the new season on Sunday. The 23-year old replaced two-goal hero Pato for the final quarter of the game at the San Siro for his official Milan bow after starting a friendly against Barcelona in midweek. He now becomes the first Ghanaian to appear in a competitive game for the renowned Italian club after Dominic Adiyiah spent a full season there without kicking a ball and will now hope the cameo appearance will be a sign of good things to come. His appearance came a day after former Ghana captain Stephen Appiah starred for newly promoted Cesena as they got a vital point away to title chasing AS Roma. Elsewhere in Italy, Kwadwo Asamoah was on the losing side as Udinese lost 0-1 at home to Genoa but Agyemang Badu who is due to arrive in Johannesburg on Tuesday ahead of Ghana’s Nations Cup qualifier against Swaziland was only an unused substitute. In France Andre Ayew and his Olympique Marseille team mates suffered last minute heartache when Bordeaux cancelled out an early Lucho Gonzalez goal to earn a share of the spoils in a league meeting. The two Ayews, Andre and Jordan had appeared in every game for Marseille this season but Jordan remained on the bench this time while Andre played the full game, picking up his second yellow card in the process. On Saturday, Asamoah Gyan played 73 minutes for Stade Rennes who won 1-0 away at Arles Avignon but the Ghana international striker who scored 13 times last season is still on the look-out for a first league goal of the season. It may well have been Gyan’s final game for Rennes with reports strongly linking him with a move to Sunderland in England before the transfer window closes on Tuesday. John Boye earned a shock call up to the Black Stars for the qualifier against Swaziland but did not even make the bench for Stade Rennes’ trip to Avignon. Over in the German Bundesliga, Isaac Vorsah scored his first goal in his German Bundesliga career to give Hoffenheim all three points against Saint Pauli. The Ghana defender got the vital touch from just about three yards to give Hoffenheim the win at St. Pauli with three minutes remaining and give them their second win of the current season. Compatriot Prince Tagoe who alongside Vorsah will join up with the Black Stars in Johannesburg on Monday ahead of their Nations Cup qualifier against Swaziland next weekend was a 62nd minute substitute. Hans Sarpei is likely to feature at left back in that game in Manzini and got the perfect preparation for that after he was thrown in the deep end of Schalke 04 defence barely two days after joining from Bayer Leverkusen. Sarpei played the full game but ended up on the losing side and with a yellow card as his new club went down 1-2 against Hannover at home. The Spanish La Liga got underway on Saturday with a bright start, at least in playing terms for Quincy Owusu-Abeyie whose normadic career has taken him to Malaga in Spain after spells in Holland, England, Russia and Qatar spanning seven clubs at the age of 23. He played the entire game but Valencia were too good for his Malaga side as they notched a 3-1 win. Derek Boateng also played the full game as Getafe went down 1-3 away at Espanyol. In Switzerland, Samuel Inkoom’s Basle finally got a win on the domestic scene after a difficult two weeks with a 4-1 drubbing of Nuchetal. It crowned the perfect week for the Ghanaian right back who helped his side reach the group stage of the European Champions league of the in midweek. Daniel Opare continued to boost his chances of a return to international football after playing the full game in Standard Liege’s 1-0 win over Kortjik.
