Heart of Lions and former Hearts of Oak defender Dennis Korsah begin negotiations

Didi Dramani

Mas-Ud Didi Dramani, the coach of Hearts of Oak, has called on the team's supporters to show up in force at the Accra Sports Stadium on September 5, 2025, when the Phobians play Great Olympics in the second Democracy Cup.

As the Phobians look to add another trophy before the new season begins, the match will be a crucial preseason test.

There is more to the game than just the opportunity to brag about their city rivals. The Ghanaian Parliament established the competition to honor Ghana's democratic credentials, and Dramani emphasized the significance of the event, calling on supporters to use football as a unifying force.

"Ghana is known for being the epitome of democracy, so if our Honorable Speaker of Parliament has organized this kind of event, and this is the second edition of it, I believe it is everyone's duty to use football as a unifying factor to fill the stadium on September 5th at the Legon stadium," he stated.

Twellium Industrial Company gave the team at their Pobiman training camp cartons of water and energy drinks on Thursday, which helped them get ready for the match.

After losing to Asante Kotoko in the inaugural Democracy Cup, Hearts will be keen to add it.

Continue reading the following sports updates:

Tuchel ignores Grealish, Foden, and Alexander-Arnold.

England has excluded Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, and Kyle Walker from their roster for the FIFA World Cup 26TM qualifiers against Serbia and Andorra.

On his 52nd birthday, Thomas Tuchel gave Tottenham Hotspur full-back Djed Spence and Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliott Anderson their first call-ups, while Jarrod Bowen, Marc Guehi, Tino Livramento, Marcus Rashford, John Stones, and Adam Wharton received their first international calls. Due to injuries, Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, and Bukayo Saka were unable to play.

Tuchel warned Alexander-Arnold when he selected the wing-back for his former team. The German stated, "I can see that sometimes he gives less focus on the defensive discipline and effort and more on his offensive contributions." "He needs to be really serious about the defensive portion." The 26-year-old's country dropped him after he had a rough start to his career with Real Madrid.

After recovering from an ankle injury, Foden has only played 16 minutes for Manchester City this season, while Walker, 35, who has 96 England caps, is also out of the lineup.

Due to a lack of playing time at City, where he made just seven Premier League starts the previous season, Grealish has not played for England since October 2024, despite scoring two goals in his last three games. The 29-year-old was expected to be included in Tuchel's squad since he just joined Everton on loan and recorded two assists in their victory over Brighton last weekend.

Anderson grew up with former England internationals Michael Carrick, Alan Shearer, and Peter Beardsley at the same youth team, Wallsend Boys. He had an incredible debut season at Forest after starting his career with Newcastle United. Anderson played a key role in England's 3-2 victory over Germany in the June UEFA European Under-21 Championship final.

Tuchel remarked, "It is a good package since Elliott Anderson is very physical, has a lot of volume, and passes cleanly and precisely." We also have Tino Liveramento with us because they had an amazing [Under-21 EURO]. A vital member of the tournament team, Elliot put in a lot of pressure in center midfield.

"He plays for Nottingham Forest regularly; they had a wonderful season." We hope he can leave his imprint, and I suppose he is thrilled to join us.

Spence recently helped Tottenham Hotspur win the UEFA Europa League after an incredible 2024–2025 season. The 25-year-old is capable of playing both left and right back.

England defeated Albania 2-0, Latvia 3-0, and Andorra 1-0 to start their World Cup 26 qualification campaign. Albania has five points after four games, good for second place in Group K. Serbia is four points from two and in third place.

The Three Lions will play Serbia at Stadion Crvene Zvezde in Belgrade three days later, then Andorra at Villa Park in Birmingham on September 6.