{"id":438318,"date":"2017-11-17T19:19:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T19:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/11\/17\/all-eyes-on-partey-ahead-of-madrid-derby\/"},"modified":"2017-11-17T19:19:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T19:19:46","slug":"all-eyes-on-partey-ahead-of-madrid-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/11\/17\/all-eyes-on-partey-ahead-of-madrid-derby\/","title":{"rendered":"All eyes on Partey ahead of Madrid derby"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"medsection1\">\n<!-- End of html generated by this->header() --><\/p>\n<p class=\"floatLeft\">Sports News of Friday, 17 November 2017<\/p>\n<p class=\"floatRight\"><strong>Source: <\/strong>Kwese.espn.com<\/p>\n<p>2017-11-17<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-left\">\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/18042589.295.jpg\" alt=\"Thomas Partey Scores\" title=\"Thomas Partey Scores\" width=\"295\" height=\"208\" \/><span class=\"image_caption\"><span>Thomas Partey has four goals for Atletico Madrid this season<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"noPrint\">\n<div id=\"537626303\" style=\"width:300;height:250;margin:0;padding:0\">\n<p>\t\t  <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"b2ad7fa7fd\" name=\"b2ad7fa7fd\" src=\"http:\/\/ghanaweb-d.openx.net\/w\/1.0\/afr?auid=537626303&amp;cb=151057541642576\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\"><a href=\"\/\/ghanaweb-d.openx.net\/w\/1.0\/rc?cs=b2ad7fa7fd&amp;cb=151057541642576\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/1510946386_197_ai\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"clear:right\">Atletico Madrid&#8217;s matches have taken on a much greater significance in Ghana following the recent rise to prominence of Thomas Partey, with the nation tuning in to follow the progress of its new poster boy.<\/p>\n<p>Diego Simeone&#8217;s side had already become popular in Ghana after threatening the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly in Spanish football in recent seasons, but these days the attention has reached a new fever pitch due to Partey.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, when Atletico Madrid face Real Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, the Ghanaian focus on Partey will be intense.<\/p>\n<p>From being a bit-part player in recent seasons, Partey has become central to Simeone&#8217;s side this term, and has already made more starts this term than he managed in either of the last two campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>He rescued a point for Atleti in the Champions League in a 1-1 draw versus Qarabag, avoiding a humiliating defeat, before curling in a superb effort to earn them a 1-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga.<\/p>\n<p>In all, he has scored three goals this season, and finally, Ghanaians can celebrate the fact that another one of their compatriots is starring at a major European club.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am very happy with what Partey is doing at Atletico Madrid,&#8221; Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan told Kwes\u00e9ESPN. &#8220;Since the days of Michael Essien, who was making Ghana proud at Chelsea, we have not had a midfielder who has stood out like this.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No disrespect to anyone because we have had great midfielders, but since Essien, Partey is the one who is beginning to stand out in Europe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The comparisons with Essien don&#8217;t simply end with the fact that both played key roles in the heart of the park for a European heavyweight.<\/p>\n<p>Like the former Chelsea man, Partey can pass, dominate midfields, and score the odd spectacular goal.<\/p>\n<p>He demonstrated his goalscoring prowess for the Black Stars in a recent World Cup qualifier against Congo-Brazzaville, becoming the first Ghanaian since Jordan Ayew in 2014 to score a hat-trick in national-team colours in a 5-1 victory.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Every coach would love him in the team,&#8221; Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah told Kwes\u00e9ESPN. &#8220;He is perfect in the defensive role and his confidence level is really high.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He can [anchor] a team well and, of late, his scoring ability is fantastic. For me he is an all-round player.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While the Black Stars head coach has made no secret of his desire to build the Black Stars around Partey, largely due to his versatility across the midfield, he&#8217;s vowed not to burden the powerhouse with any leadership roles for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He says very little off the pitch so you have to allow him to play,&#8221; the coach continued. &#8220;On the pitch he controls a game well but is not one to bark instructions to anyone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He leads simply by what he does.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Ghanaian national side may feel like they&#8217;re at a low ebb now following their disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign and their failure to reach Russia, but the emergence of Partey &#8211; a fine talent currently making an impact at a European giant &#8211; offers hope for a brighter future.<\/p>\n<p><!-- uploaded by: 58 updated by: -1 --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Start of html generated by this->footer() -->\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a style=\"display:none\" rel=\"follow\" href=\"http:\/\/megatheme.ir\/\" title=\"\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633\">\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sports News of Friday, 17 November 2017 Source: Kwese.espn.com 2017-11-17 Thomas Partey has four goals for Atletico Madrid this season Atletico Madrid&#8217;s matches have taken on a much greater significance in Ghana following the recent rise to prominence of Thomas Partey, with the nation tuning in to follow the progress of its new poster boy. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":433627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-438318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>All eyes on Partey ahead of Madrid derby - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/11\/17\/all-eyes-on-partey-ahead-of-madrid-derby\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"All eyes on Partey ahead of Madrid derby - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Sports News of Friday, 17 November 2017 Source: Kwese.espn.com 2017-11-17 Thomas Partey has four goals for Atletico Madrid this season Atletico Madrid&#8217;s matches have taken on a much greater significance in Ghana following the recent rise to prominence of Thomas Partey, with the nation tuning in to follow the progress of its new poster boy. 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