Flamboyant Black Stars sees off Ethiopia in style

James Kwesi Appiah’s homecoming game was all but a flamboyant bow tie on Sunday, June 11, 2017 as the Black Stars welcomed the returnee coach with a resounding 5-0 victory over Ethiopia in the 2019 AFCON qualifier.

The greatest storyline prior to the match was Kwesi Appiah’s decision to hand a starting role to three debutant but his gamble paid off at the end of the day as the trio [Thomas Agyapong, Raphael Dwamena, and Lumor Agbenyenu] marked their cap an exhilarating performance.

Asamoah Gyan opened the floodgate for the Black Stars in the 11th minute when he met Thomas Agyapong’s cross from the left in the box and head it into the net. The ball took a ricochet of an Ethiopia defender on its road into the net.

John Boye extended the lead for Ghana in the 15th minute with a mind blowing half turned goal. Andre Ayew’s long cross found Raphael Dwamena in the far post who headed the ball in the way of Boye to curl the ball into the net.

Ebenezer Ofori dunked in the third for the Black Stars with a remarkable strike. The midfielder having collected a pass from Thomas Partey in the third half of the pitch took down two defenders and then shot the ball straight into the roof of the net.

With the fans putting the ghost of Brazil 2014 behind them and yearning for more, the Black Stars responded with two more goals in the second half [48th and 70th] through FC Zurich striker Raphael Dwamena to make it 5-0 for Ghana.

Below are the results at a glance:

Ghana 5-0 Ethiopia

Zimbabwe 3-0 Liberia

Central Africa Republic 2-1 Rwanda

Benin 1-0 Gambia

Cape Verde 0-1 Uganda

Algeria 1-0 Togo

Tunisia 1-0 Egypt

Senegal 3-0 Equatorial Guinea

Mali 2-1 Gabon

Burkina Faso 3-1 Angola

Ivory Coast 2-3 Guinea

D.R Congo 3-1 Congo

Tanzania 1-1 Lesotho

Sierra Leone 2-1 Kenya

Guinea Bissau 1-0 Namibia

Nigeria 0-2 South Africa

Niger 0-0 Swaziland

Cameroon 1-0 Morocco

Botswana 0-1 Mauritania

Burundi 3-0 South Sudan

Zambia 0-1 Mozambique

Malawi 1-0 Comoros Island

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