Hearts, Heart of Lions face-off in Homowo Charity Cup match
Accra Hearts of Oak and Kpando Heart of Lions will come face-to-face in the 2025 Gbese Mantse Homowo Peace Charity match at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
In attendance would be the Gbese Mantse, Nii (Dr) Ayibonte II, who is expected to perform the ceremonial kickoff and other dignitaries expected to grace the occasion.
The match forms part of activities line-up to commemorate this year’s Homowo celebration in the Ga Mashie area and is expected to draw fans of the two sides to cheer on their respective teams.
The Kpando Lions lost the previous edition 8-7 on penalties after a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time at the same venue and has vowed to avenge that loss on the Phobians this year.
Apart from the silverware at stake, both sides would aim to use the match to try newly signed on players as they prepare for the new season expected to take off in September.
Since the announcement of the game, both sides have engaged in series of trial matches to keep in shape, the last of which was a Lions friendly match against Accra Great Olympics yesterday, beating the Division One League (DOL) side 4-1 to indicate their readiness for the Phobians.
Heart of Lions emerged one of the surprised packages in last season’s league, earning a top half placing on the league table.
That came as a shock to some followers of the game having struggled to avoid relegation in the previous season.
Aiming to build on last season’s gains, they would hope to improve the performance to possibly cement a place among the top four sides.
Beating the Phobians on Sunday would send that signal to the other competitors.
But Hearts under a new coaching direction, spearheaded by Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani, are not ready to relinquish the diadem and would fight tooth and nail to keep it.
Their last competitive outing was against their fiercest rivals, Asante Kotoko in the President Cup match at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Although they started so well and were poised to win the trophy after taking the lead, Kotoko second half resurgence earned them two quick-fire goals to overturn the Phobia fortunes.
Having lost that trophy, losing a second barely six months would not be the kind of script the Phobians would want about them.
With the impressive cast of new players signed to beef up the squad, one expects to see a hungry Hearts side ready to give a foretaste of what to expect in the season.
Meanwhile, organisers of the game have announced rates for the match.
According to a statement, tickets to the VVIP Lounge would be sold at GH¢200, VIP would go for GH¢100, Centre Line GH¢20 and Popular Stand GH¢10.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
