Review: Top four could not have been any better

The curtain of the much publicized Coca Cola Top Four tournament came to an end at the weekend and connoisseurs of the game who predicted six weeks of real soccer, upsets, disappointments and expectations among others could not have done any better. Alas, the walk finally superseded the talk as the field separated the boys from the men irrespective of the noise the clubs with the large followings made before and during the tourney.

At last, Alhaji Grunsah's King Faisal lived within their pre tournament bluff of coming among the first two to participate in the South Africa Top eight competition and sailed above pre match billings which favoured the two most glamorous clubs in the country, Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak.

Irrespective of the hitches that delayed the tournament and nearly threw the competition into disarray, the four clubs produced excitement galore that forced fans to sit on tenterhooks on countless occasions and gave credence to the gradual growth of the passion of the nation.

A total of twelve games were played, six at both the Kumasi, and Accra stadiums and recording a total of 22 goals with an average of one goal scored in each game that clearly depicted the competitive nature of the tourney which saw King Faisal snatching the trophy from the jaws of city rivals, Kotoko through a superior goal difference while the Southern sector reps of Hearts and Dansoman-based Liberty Professionals finished in that other.

During the six-week fiesta, it was glaring that the midfielders on the local scene had become the biggest assert of the nation as Kokoko's Yusif Chipsah who emerged as the first winner of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award of the opener and his other colleague midfielders swept 70 percent of the awards that was won by twelve players.

While strikers and defenders shared honours with 15 percent each for the MVP awards, Faisal led the pack with five out of the twelve players who for their effort took home products from the sponsors, Coca Cola and CD players.

In terms of goalkeeping, Faisal's Mohammed Suraju was the obvious safest pair of hands who conceded fewer goals and kept victory beyond the reach of both Kotoko and Hearts when he saved all that was meant to be saved to keep his sides upset spree on course.

However, Kotoko's young and agile goalie, Mohammed Alhassan who exhibited bravery coupled with the courage to make a mark in his debut against opponents like Hearts and Faisal though should give the country enough hope as the likes of Sammy Adjei and others are gradually fizzling out.

Faisal's defeat to bottom placed Liberty obviously emerged the surprise of the tournament as the victory of Faisal over both Hearts and Kotoko was very much anticipated as a result of their impressive play last season.

The Grunsah boys scored the highest goals and conceded the least with Hearts coming second irrespective of their position on the table while Kotoko and Liberty followed suit.

As all four clubs exhibited their new signings for the season, it was Liberty who paraded the most youthful team where Tuaha Mohammed Khamis was among the discoveries for the Dansoman-based club while Hearts trio of Abdul Samed, Louis Agyemang and Nanka Bruce as well as goalie Alhassan of Kotoko were among the new discoveries.

At the end of the tournament, a total of nine wins, nine loses and six draws were recorded in the six-week fiesta with Faisal securing three out of the nine, drawing two matches against Hearts and Kotoko and losing once to the depleted Liberty team who played without five of their key players.

Kotoko lost one game to Faisal, defeated Hearts at home, drew twice against Hearts and Faisal and beat Liberty both home and away whereas Hearts drew twice against Kotoko and Faisal and lost twice to the same teams but won twice against Liberty to make them their whipping boys. The "scientific soccer" lads, Liberty who were playing their third consecutive championship, won once, drew none and lost all five of the six games played.

The Kotoko team though missed the cup narrowly, had consolation in the fact that their striker, Frank Osei emerged as the top scorer haven struck four times, with three against all time arch rivals, Hearts and the other against Faisal with impressive and hard working Faisal's Abubakar Yahuza closing up with three goals.

Both Yahuza and Osei significantly recorded two goals each in their last matches which were played simultaneously at the Accra and Kumasi stadiums.

Ablade Morgan and Samad of Hearts followed with two goals apiece while the Phobian's duo of Lawrence Adjei and Bernard Don Bortey who had a quiet tourney joined the likes of Udenise bound Asamoah Gyan of Liberty among seven players to score one goal each.

Irrespective of the excitement that characterized the tournament, spectatorship was as usual not encouraging as it was only during matches involving Hearts and Kotoko that received the anticipated patronage defeating the suggestion that fans have come of age to attach their tradition and roots to traditional clubs as against matches involving teams such as Liberty and King Faisal where the modern cream of football will be exhibited.

Tactically Faisal played better than all the three participants as their dominance over Hearts and Kotoko could be used as a test case whereas Liberty were overwhelmed due to their approach towards their games.

The Liberty players rather concentrated on excessive dribbling without showing any precision upfront whilst Hearts and Kotoko rode on their past glories to bully their young counterparts.

But for few instances where the likes of referee C. M Astasta who nearly marred the beauty of the Kotoko and Liberty's game played in Accra, officiating was generally not that bad though the tensed nature of some of the bigger games exposed the faults of some of the referees. Faisal's success has been hailed by many soccer lovers who over the years have clamored for the emergence of teams that can brake the supposed monopoly that both Hearts and Kotoko have always enjoyed.