Tuesday, February 5, 2008

GHANAIANS JUBILATE OVER STARS VICTORY (Back Page)

STORY: Zakaria Alhassan

THERE was spontaneous jubilation in the Tamale metropolis immediately after the close of proceedings in the Ghana-Nigeria thrilling encounter that ended 2-1 in favour of the host nation.
The over-excited football fans poured on to some principal streets of the metropolis amidst drumming and singing of praises in honnour of the team and the nation.
Loud speakers from some restaurants and bars oozed out thunderous music that attracted a lot of people to the spots where they dined, drunk and danced their joy away.
Motorists also added to the fun by tooting their horns and waving miniature Ghana flags and other paraphernalia in the open air.
Others displayed acrobatic antics with their bicycles and motorbikes to the admiration of delighted onlookers.
A 19-year old food vendor Serena Iddi, said, ‘‘I am so happy we won because if we had lost or played a drawn game, people would not have patronise my food tonight.’’
A football enthusiast, Emmanuel Donkor, commended the Black Stars for their ‘‘marvellous display of determination, courage and bravado in spite of their numerical disadvantage in the second half.
Most of the delighted fans intimated that with the ongoing Ghana CAN 2008 fever in the air, they were going to celebrate the victory deep into the night.
 • Hundreds of football fans at Maame Krobo in the Afram Plains District in the Eastern Region poured onto the streets in jubilation of the 2-1 victory of the Black Stars over their arch-rivals, the Super Eagles of Nigeria, writes Fiifi Mensah, Maame Krobo.
The main street was yesterday filled with vehicles tooting their horns while supporters were also blowing their whistles in support of the great victory.
A number of supporters the Daily Graphic spoke to expressed their appreciation to the Black Stars for the marvellous performance.
Mr Kofi Adjei Aidoo, Managing Director of Big Aidoo Construction said the Stars played with maturity and cohesion in spite of the referee's apparent bias.
From Asante Mampong, Nana Yaw Barimah reports that hell broke loose, immediately the Algerian referee brought hostilities between the Black Stars and the Super Eagles to an end as children between the ages of five and 15 joined hands with the elderly and paraded through the principal streets.
The jubilant supporters used any object they could lay their hands on as drums which they played as part of the jubilation.
As many supporters the Daily Graphic spoke to described Ghana’s performance as splendid and noted that the bias exhibited by the referee could not deter the Stars from winning the match.
They chastised the referee for thwarting the efforts of the Black Stars as he awarded a penalty against the Ghanaians and secondly gave the matching orders to Skipper Jonh Mensah.
They commended the Ghanaian technical team led by coach Claud Le Roy for the timeliness in making substitutions that made the difference.

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