Sports Features of Sunday, 21 January 2018

Source: footballmadeinghana.com

Dreams FC tipped to lift G-8 trophy

Dreams FC will face Hearts in the final of the GHALCA G8 tournament on Sunday Dreams FC will face Hearts in the final of the GHALCA G8 tournament on Sunday

Dreams FC hope to lift the 2018 G-8 trophy when they lock horns with familiar foes Hearts of Oak in the grand finale at the Cape Coast Stadium on Sunday.

The game promises lots of fireworks. It’s expected to live up to the billing as both clubs have fought crunch battles against each other.

In all, Dreams FC and Hearts of Oak have met eight times with the Dawu based club winning four while the Phobians have won just two with the two others ending in a draw.

The highest score line between the two teams was the 4-0 humiliation Hearts suffered in the hands of Dreams FC at the Legon Park when they were in first division.

On paper, Hearts of Oak are big as they have the name but Dreams FC have shown that, they are the best team in the tournament having conceded just one goal from four games.

The Phobians haven’t been convincing as they lost against Medeama, drew with Karela and came from behind to beat Dwarfs 3-2 while defeating eternal rivals Kotoko in the semis on penalties.

The only dangerous weapon Hearts of Oak possess is Richard Zuma, who came from the bench to score a brace against Dwarfs.

It will be interesting to see how he will fare against Issah Yakubu and others at the back of Dreams FC as they have been resolute so far.

Hearts of Oak defence have looked porous all day and if the Dreams FC midfielders can get the balls to Zuberu Sharani and Richard Addai, the job could be done in the first 45 minutes.

The last two meetings between the teams have been decided by poor refereeing decisions as a perfect late goal by Lawson Bekui, which would have ended the game 2-1 in favour of Dreams in a 2015/2016 Ghana Premier League game was ruled offside.

Also, the Phobians were awarded an offside goal in the return leg as they struggled to beat Dreams 1-0 that season. The referee for Sunday’s final must be fair in order to produce a deserving winner.

Dreams FC coach, Karim Zito will welcome injured goalkeeper, Ishawu Yahaya who limped off in extra time in the semis against Medeama while in the camp of the Phobians there are no injury worries.

Dreams FC go into the game as favourites. If they play to instructions, they will emerge winners.