Jubilation in Ghana: Six injured in Tamale

Tamale, June 27, GNA - Six soccer fans in Tamale, Northern Ghana, were on Saturday injured in separate incidents while celebrating the 2-1 defeat the Ghana Black Stars inflicted on the U.S.A. at the ongoing South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup.

When GNA visited the Out Patients Department of the Tamale Teaching Hospital the records showed that Majeed Obedia, 32; Mohammed Muto Wakilu, 27; Adam Karim, 19; Musah Mariam, 11; Mustapha Fuseini, 22 and Sumaila Safura, 14 had reported with various degrees of injury they had sustained while in jubilation.

At Ho in the Volta Region the celebration started after Kevin Prince Boateng scored the opener for the Black Stars five minutes into the game. Fans of all age groups and sexes poured into the streets after the second goal by Asamoah Gyan and celebrated till the early hours of Sunday. The fans in various groups marched from one end of the town to the other amidst singing, dancing and ululating after the stress of watching 120 minutes of the duel.

A 60-year old woman told GNA that she could not watch the match because of tension but she could, however, not miss out in the celebrations. The normally fluid traffic in the Municipality was jammed for the greater part of the night, while drinking bars were crowded with some of the patrons blowing vuvuzelas.

A European visitor to Ho, who gave her name only as Raffaela, was among a group Europeans, who joined in the jubilation. She said the Black Stars played very well and deserved the victory.

At Cape Coast in the Central Region hundreds of soccer fans took to the street Saturday night to celebrate the Black Stars' victory. Immediately the Referee whistled for the end of the match, soccer fans most of them clad in national colours poured unto the streets, sang and danced to brass band music and waved flags amidst the tooting of vehicle horns.

In an interview with the GNA, Nana Aidoo, Chief Executive of Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs Football Club, commended the Black Stars for defeating U.S.A. to qualify for the next stage of the competition.

He noted that the victories chalked by the National Team had made Ghanaians proud and asked the Stars to sustain their fighting spirit to enable them to win the cup.

Some of the fans, who gathered at the main Takoradi Highway Shell Filling Station in Cape Coast, danced deep into the night and discussed the splendid performance of the Stars.

Earlier some fans predicted a "cool win" for the Stars, to GNA, citing the 1996 results as a reference.

Mr James Biney, a newspaper vendor, told GNA that the Black Stars would perform creditably and advance to the next stage of the competition and urged Ghanaians to pray for the Team.

At Elmina, soccer fans danced to "kolomashie", a traditional dance, cheered and paid glowing tribute to the Black Stars for their selflessness and dedication that had brought the Team that far.

At Aflao, a border town in the South-Eastern Ghana, entry and exit procedures slumped as Officers on both sides of the Ghana-Togo Border joined in the celebrations and hordes of jubilant soccer fans crossed from one side to the other without any hindrance.

"Better declare the borders free today," the exhilarated Togolese fans from Lome, kept screaming as they poured into Aflao, Ghana, dancing and praising the Black Stars.

Across the border in Kodzoviakope and Nyekonakpoe, both in Lome, the capital of Togo, the GNA joined fans clutching Ghanaian miniature flags in the celebration.

Many Togolese think Asamoah Gyan had sometime magical that makes him score match deciders.