Ghana reaches WAFU final

Ghana fought gallantly to reach the grand finale of the on-going 2013 GOTV WAFU Cup tournament with a 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso in their last Group “A” match at the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, on Monday.

En-route to the final, the host accounted for Sierra Leone and also lost to Benin, increasing their point build-up to six to top the Group.

Ghana had no choice than to win the match at all cost, and buoyed by their home fans attacked their opponents like wounded lions right from the beginning.

Godfred Saka shot the host into the lead on 18 minutes, scoring from a free-kick to beat Burkina’s goalkeeper, Kabore Mohammed.

They continued to pile pressure on their opponents, but the attacking duo of Sulley Mohammed and Yahaya Mohammed were an apology of themselves as they missed some decent chances in the course of the first half.

Burkina restored parity in the 44th minute, with goalkeeper Kabore converting a spot-kick after Traore Alassane was fouled in the vital area by Saka.

After recess, Ghana injected urgency into their game and fired from all angles to score the second goal in the 63rd minute, courtesy Yahaya Mohammed who soared above the Burkina defence to head home a Saka well-taken cross from the right flank.

The two teams battled it hard thereon, but it was the Burkinabes who were purposeful upfront as they mounted series of attacks and it took the ingenuity of goalkeeper Stephen Adams to save the day for the host.

Adams emerged as the man of the match, while Burkina’s Ouedraogo Bassirou won the fair play award.

With the standings now, Benin would play for bronze after amassing five points from three goals.

Source: GNA