...

Ghana come from behind to take third place

Society Materials 9 February 2008 23:11 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa )- Ghana scored thrice in 15 minutes in the second half to take to come from behind and take third place at the Africa Cup of Nations by beating the Ivory Coast 4-2 in Kumasi on Saturday.

The result gives the host nation a positive ending after the disappointment of losing Thursday's semi-final against Cameroon 1-0.

In front of a disappointing crowd in Kumasi the home side opened the scoring in the 10th minute after Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari slammed a freekick that he himself had earned into the top corner.

Werder Bremen striker Boubacar Sanogo then scored twice for the Elephants in the space of eight minutes, first by running onto a long pass into space in the 24th minute and then by simply pushing his foot towards a lose ball in the area.

His second goal was the 94th at this competition, beating the previous best-mark established in Burkina Faso in 1998, when 93 goals were scored.

Sanogo came agonizingly close to scoring his hat-trick when he was set up by captain Didier Drogba and clinically played the ball over goalkeeper Richard Kingson, only to see it hit the crossbar.

The Ivory Coast went into the change rooms 2-1 up.

The Black Stars came back strongly in the second half as they scored three goals in 15 minutes. Quincy Owusu-Abeyie equalized in the 70th minute with a brilliant individual effort after taking the ball into the area.

Ten minutes later Junior Agogo scored from a Michael Essien pass, while midfielder Haminu Dramani found the back of the net with a long-range effort from 25 metres that took a wicked bounce in front of Tiasse Kone's goal to bounce over the outstretched hands of the diving goalkeeper.

Referee Jerome Damon's final whistle was greeted by scened of jubiliation by the Black Sstars players, who started dancing on the field.

Sunday's final in the Ohene Djan stadium in Accra sees Egypt take on Cameroon.

Latest

Latest