The Member of Parliament for the Jomoro Constituency and Deputy Minister for Transport, Dorcas Affo-Toffey, has been awarded Best Performing Deputy Minister of 2026 at the 6th Ministers of State Awards.
🇬🇭 “Ibrahim Mahama, AirtelTigo and Telecel lead CEOs willing to offer jobs to returnees,”
— Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said at the Accra International Airport while addressing returning evacuees.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Linda Ocloo has won the Best Regional Minister Award at the 6th Ghana Ministers of State Excellence Awards.
[🎥: 3Music]
🚨 Back story: After I attended a World Cup security briefing in December in Washington, I think I know the real reason (apart from noise) why FIFA has banned vuvuzelas from all 16 tournament stadia.
🔋 @mypolytank
Zlatan Ibrahimović calls American fans the softest fans he ever played for because they didn’t care about losing until the playoffs
"Most of my career I played in Italy, France, Spain, England, then I came over to US. I think US had the softest fans"
"when we were losing games, they were like don't worry, we just need to reach the playoffs. and I'm like what do you mean don't worry? in my world I am worried"
"if you think about my contract, I get paid now. I don't get paid when the playoff starts"
After seeing what all these countries around the world are doing to send off their teams to compete in the World Cup… I think it’s safe to say I’ll never be able to truly understand just how important soccer is to literally every other country on Earth except the USA
The 2026 World Cup had a major challenge with grass: FIFA retrofit 16 stadiums in Canada, Mexico and US to keep fields consistent for 48 teams and 104 matches.
It asked grass scientists at U of Tennessee and to design solution:
▫️they made a modular hybrid turf (95% grass / 5% synthetic fiber) that is easily rollable, transportable and installable
▫️each field has 20 million synenthic fibers sewn into dirt (grassroots intertwine with fibers to prevent field from tearing)
▫️all 11 stadiums in US host NFL teams…7 of those had to do special conversion of astroturf fields (Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, LA, NY, Seattle)
▫️5 stadiums have a dome (eg. BC Place in Vancouver) and scientists developed special UV grow light machines to help maintain grass in those structures
▫️grass in Southern US and two Mexico locations (Monterrey, Guadalajara) need grass species for warm and humid temperatures (“Bermuda grass”)
▫️Northern US/Canada and Mexico City need grass for cooler climates (“Kentucky bluegrass”)
▫️scientists built special machines to test player foot impact and ball bouncing effect (reduce injuries and make sure ball movement consistent)
▫️grass sods we’re grown on plastic so they spread horizontally, making it easier to roll and transport
***
Interview with U Tennessee grass science expert Dr. John Sorochan (via PBS): https://t.co/FohkCQK39m
Mauricio Pochettino’s record against European sides as USMNT manager ⬇️
USA 1-2 Germany ❌
USA 0-2 Portugal ❌
USA 2-5 Belgium ❌
USA 0-4 Switzerland ❌
USA 1-2 Turkiye ❌
4 goals scored, 15 goals conceded, 0 wins 😬