Zongo Football Festival Begins

The much-awaited Krypton Ghana Ltd sponsored Zongo Championship, kicked off at Avenor Park, Accra, yesterday with Russia upstaging Akotex 2-1. Both teams started the match cautiously, but it was the Russia team that showed enough aggression to carry the day. As early as the 5th minute, a daring move through the central defence of Akotex, resulted in an indirect free kick awarded to Russia, when their goalkeeper held the ball outside the penalty box. The resultant kick by Farouk Awudu zoomed straight into the net for the opening goal of the one-month tournament. Razak Issah of Russia was a thorn in the flesh of the Akotex team as he dictated the pace of the game, and was by far the most enterprising player on the grassless pitch. Akotex could not contain the pace of the Russian team, so resorted to man-handling their opponents. In the second half of the 60-minute game, Akotex raised the tempo of their game, but it was Awudu Basit who scored the second goal from a pull out in the 42nd minute. Akotex reduced the tally 10 minutes from the end through Amadu Ganba, who scored from a melee. The second match between shaolin and Chicago was in progress at the time of going to press. The tournament which is aimed at bringing the Zongo Communities in Accra together through football will end on August 31, 2008.