Ghana has won the third-place in the Ghana 2008 tournament by beating Ivory Coast in a six-goal thriller.
Sulley Muntari's swerving 25-yard free-kick gave Ghana the lead on 10 minutes before Ivorian Boubacar Sanogo hit back with a quick-fire brace.
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie's equalised after half-time with a solo effort before Junior Agogo struck on 80 minutes.
Ghana's Haminu Draman then sealed the win with a 25-yard shot on 85 minutes.
Though the game was a non-event for many, the local crowd of Kumasi had turned out in numbers to see their beloved Ghana play at the home ground of the country's biggest club side, Asante Kotoko.
And what a feast of goal scoring they witnessed as two of the pre-tournament favourites scrapped for the consolation prize of third place.
Another superb goal was added to the list of crackers from this year's Nations Cup after only 10 minutes.
Muntari let rip with a 25-yard free-kick thunderbolt that swerved round the defensive wall and into the top corner, past a helpless Tiasse Kone.
The Elephants, driven on by captain Didier Drogba, were not to be outdone though and they were soon back into the game when Kader Keita showed great vision to play a through ball to Sanogo.
The Werder Bremen-man strode into the Black Stars' box to place his shot past Kingson from 15 yards to equalise for the Elephants.
Sanogo's effort was the 94th goal of the 2008 tournament and made the Ghana event the highest scoring in Africa Cup of Nations' history.
The game was now dominated by the men in orange and a great double save was needed from Kingson to deny Kalou, who shot from the edge of the area, and then Drogba who pounced on the rebound with 30 minutes gone.
Drogba forced another save from Kingson again seconds later, but this time there was no stopping the rebound as Sanogo stretched to direct the ball in and claim his second.
The game was wonderfully open and Sanogo was only denied his hat-trick by the Ghanaian crossbar which he rattled on 38 minutes.
Ghana started the second half keen to get back on level terms, with Haminu Draman proving a thorn in the Ivorian's side on the right flank.
But the game's pace had dropped markedly from that of the first half with chances less well crafted and a paucity of goal-scoring opportunities.
Then with 20 minutes left to play Owusu-Abeyie picked up the ball in the centre of the pitch and from 35 yards out sprinted past two Ivorian defenders into the area to slot home and equalise.
The Kumasi Stadium was alive with cheers and horns again and bizarrely suffered an invasion from a swarm of moths and flies that choked Michael Essien amongst others.
Agogo then bagged his third of the tournament when he was played through with a clever pass from Essien to complete the simplest of finishes from 10 yards.
Draman then put the icing on the cake when he cut in from the flank and shot from twenty yards out, only for his shot to take a wicked bounce off the turf to beat the diving Kone.
Source: bbc
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
Latest Stories
-
We’ll cut down imports and boost consumption of local rice and other products – Mahama
5 mins -
Prof Opoku-Agyemang donates to Tamale orphanage to mark her birthday
1 hour -
Don’t call re-painted old schools brand new infrastructure – Prof Opoku-Agyemang tells gov’t
2 hours -
Sunon Asogli plant will be back on stream in a few weeks – ECG
2 hours -
ECOWAS deploys observers for Dec. 7 election
2 hours -
73 officers commissioned into Ghana Armed Forces
2 hours -
Impending shutdown of three power plants won’t happen – ECG MD
2 hours -
Ghana shouldn’t have experienced any ‘dumsor’ after 2017 – IES Boss
3 hours -
Lamens flouted some food safety laws in re-bagging rice – Former FDA Boss Alhaji Hudu Mogtari
4 hours -
Afcon exit: Our issue is administrative failure and mismanagement, not lack of talent – Saddick Adams
4 hours -
WAPCo to commence major pipeline maintenance and inspection from November 25
4 hours -
CEO of Oro Oil Ghana Limited Maxwell Commey listed among the 100 Most Influential People Awards, 2024
4 hours -
Power crisis: Amandi is off due to maintenance, not debt – ECG Boss
4 hours -
Votes cast for late Akua Donkor to be declared invalid – Electoral Commission
5 hours -
You can’t keep “incompetent” Otto Addo for the long term – Countryman Songo
5 hours