Lizzy Sports Academy win U-13 Dubai Int. Cup

Lizzy Sports Academy last Sunday brushed aside a late comeback to edge Dansoman Barcelona 4-3 and claim the ticket to represent Ghana at the second edition of the U-13 Dubai International Cup slated for February 2018.

Lizzy Sports Academy (LSA) capped a memorable "host and win" campaign at the Lizzy Sports Complex, courtesy first-half braces by captain Meshack Adjetey Sowah and striker Emmanuel Atta to lift the glittering trophy at stake in the seven-a-side tournament.

Skipper Adjetey scored his first with a fierce shot from close range and added the second goal moments later with a powerful finish.

With his side dominating the exchanges, lanky striker Atta made good use of his height to nod home from a corner before completing his brace (LSA's fourth) with an angled drive.

With five minutes to the end of the 30-minute first half, Dansoman Barcelona breathed life back into the game with a long range chip to reduce the four-goal deficit.

After the break, LSA continued to dominate the exchanges but Dansoman Barcelona set up a tense finish with two late goals which came too late to deny LSA victory.

LSA players - Meshack Adjetey Sowah and Asare Kingsley - emerged the Player of the Tournament and Goalkeeper of the Tournament respectively, while Richard Nkrumah won the top scorer award. The Spanish Soccer Schools team won the Fair Play award and 11-year-old midfielder Andy Apemeku was presented with a special award by former Real Madrid and Spain defender, Michel Salgado.

The third-placed match ended 2-2 in normal time and Akosombo FC edged Desidero 4-3 on penalties. Akosombo lost 0-3 to LSA in the semi-finals, while Desideros squandered a four-goal lead to lose 4-5 to Dansoman in the other semi-final clash.

The coach of LSA, Nana Agyemang, was confident that his side would next year see off the challenge from the best U-13 teams in the world and return to Ghana with the trophy.

He stressed the need to improve the channel passing of his team to make the attack unpredictable.

Salgado, convener of the Spanish Soccer Schools and MS2, organisers of the U-13 Dubai International Cup, was impressed with the level of competition exhibited by all the eight participating teams and described LSA as worthy champions.