Four Ghanaian players Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah, Lalas Abubakar and Edward Opoku were in action as Columbus Crew beat Minnesota United FC 2-0 on Saturday to win the Carolina Challenge Cup title.

It is the second consecutive year that the Black & Gold have won the pre-season tournament.

In the 32nd minute, Higuain volleyed a rocket to the back of Minnesota's net.

Just as the dust began to settle, Afful hit a one-touch cross that found Gyasi Zardes on the back post.

Zardes sent the ball past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth just five minutes after Higuain's strike, putting Crew SC up 2-0 at the break.

The Ghanaian quartet and Columbus Crew will turn their attention to the start 2018 MLS regular season with a visit to Toronto FC.

Columbus Crew SC: Zack Steffen; Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah ©, Lalas Abubakar, Milton Valenzuela; Artur (Clark 75’), Wil Trapp ©; Cristian Martinez, Federico Higuain (Edward Opoku 83’), Pedro Santos (Luis Argudo 75’); Gyasi Zardes