Ghana retained the WAFU Cup with a 4-1 win at the Cape Coast Stadium against arch rivals Nigeria.

The black stars earlier in the competition had lost (2-0) during the group stage, but produced a performance befitting of a title winning side on a night it was required. Stephen Sarfo recorded a brace in the 44th and 78th minute; Vincent Attinga and Winful Cobbina also were on the score sheet. Rabiu Ali scored Nigeria’s consolation in added time.

Speaking after the game, Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf acknowledged the performance of the players, as he remains hopeful the experience would be beneficial to the team in the long run

“The tournament was good; the level of play was of high standard. My players did very well even if the result wasn’t as we expected. When you lose in a football game it’s mostly down to mistakes made on the pitch. It’s a good lesson for us, we would return home and see where we can develop our weaknesses and try to apply our strength. Overall, it was a good tournament for us to build our tenacity for CHAN.”

On his part, Coach of Ghana Maxwell Konadu laid the success of the black stars to self believe

“We trusted in our abilities. The Other day we promised our supporters of a much better performance, that it would be a different game compared to the group stage encounter which we lost 2-0. True to our words the boys have proven they can play to instructions. That was what they did exactly to turn the tables around.”

Niger Republic defeated Benin Republic 2-1 to win third place.

Awards:

Captain of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Ikechukwi Ezenwa, was named the Best Goalkeeper at the tournament having kept four clean sheets leading to the final. Ghana’s Stephen Sarfo emerged as the top scorer of the tournament, while Twum Isaac was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 WAFU Cup.