Accra, Nov 18. GNA - The Squirrels of Benin defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by a lone goal in the opening game of the Zenith Four Nation Tournament played at the Ohene Djan Stadium on Saturday. Striker Maija Abou's glancing header on the stroke of the first half surprisingly went past the UAE goalie Waleed Sahim Sulema to hand the Squirrels victory over the Asian giants.
This was after the Squirrels had completely dominated their Arab opponents in the early minutes but failed to find the net despite launching several attacks into the Asians' half.
The Beninois had the better of the exchanges in the second half but burly striker Razak Omotoyossi wasted the glorious chances that fell his way to the disappointment of the sparse crowd. The Arabs never posed a major threat to the Ghana 2008 participants in the quest to even the scores.
Ghana's Black Stars will host the Hawks of Togo in the second match of the tournament at the same venue on Sunday. The winner of the Ghana-Togo game will meet Benin in the finals on Wednesday at the National Stadium.