On this day 24 February 1963 (Exactly 58 years ago today) Ghana thrashed Nigeria 5 -0 to qualify for the final of the Dr Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup at the Accra Sports stadium.
The Black Stars playing like the real soccer emperors led 1 -0 at half time.
They came back in the second half to overwhelm the Green Eagles (now Super Eagles) who had no answer to their copy book soccer.
Scorers for Ghana were inside right Mfum (brace), Aggrey -Fynn , Baba Yara and Edward Acquah.
Ghana kicked off and and for the first three minutes harassed Nigerian goalmouth.
Mfum was put through thrice, but was superbly checked by the Nigerian right back, Nwosu.
A typical Baba Yara pass found Edward Acquah at inside left who headed a neat ball, goalkeeper Ezekwe had to dive full length to concede a corner kick.
Nigeria forced the tide in their favour. Their centre forward, Ekpe, thrilled the crowd with his dribbling, but inside left Hamilton always shot over the bar.
In the eighth minute, right winger Kwame Adarkwa with his typical body swerve, beat three Nigerian defenders in a row, passed to Mfum who missed the post by inches.
But barely five minutes later, a beautiful Baba Yara pass went straight to Mfum. He trapped it and with, his usual bulldozing manner, cut through the Nigerian defence and gracefully beat goalkeeper Ezekwe to put Ghana ahead.
That goal really inspired the Black Stars. Their characteristic shot passes were in full cry and the Nigerians could not find their feet.
Halftime came with Ghana leading with one goal.
Ghana resumed the second half with a terrific bang and for sometime kept the Nigerians under heavy pressure, but a number of scoring chances were wasted.
Aggrey-Fynn increased Ghana’s lead in the 65th minute from a penalty kick.
Mfum, the hero of the day weaved his way through a bunch of Nigerian defenders when right back Nwokedi brought him heavily in the penalty box.
Senegalese referee Moustafa did not hasten to award a penalty-kick and Aggrey- Fynn made no mistake about it.
Final line-up
“King of West African wingers”, Baba Yara in a solo effort scored Ghana’s number three goal in the 70th minute.
It was a long pass from Ben Simmons which reached Yara. Yara made a quick dash through the Nigerian defenders and after bamboozling unrushing goalkeeper, Ezekwe he beautifully placed the ball right in the corner of the net.
Nigeria were completely out of the game from that moment. All their passes went the wrong way and the Black Stars treated them with cheeky ease.
In the 81st minute left winger Tetteh Akrong put Mfum through to score a beautiful goal to give Ghana a comfortable 4 -0 lead.
With a minute to full time Edward Acquah sealed Ghana’s victory with a powerful shot.
Ghana : Dodoo Ankrah, Anum Okai, E. O. Oblitey, E. J. Aggrey-Fynn, Addo Odametey, Ben Simmons, Kwame Adarkwa, Wilberforce Mfum, Baba Yara, Edward Acquah, Tetteh Akrong.
Nigeria: Ezekwe, Nwosu, Shotayo, Nwokedi, Oduah, Remi, Osah, Edguonu, Ekpe, Hamilton, Iyamu.
What Next?
Ghana beat Mali 4-0 in the final to win the Nkrumah Gold Cup three times in a row.
Note: The Nkrumah Gold Cup is not to be confused with the Osagyefo Cup (a trophy also donated by Dr Nkrumah) which became the prize for the African Champions’ Cup (for clubs, not national teams
By George “Alan Green” Mahamah
