Kwesi Asmah’s second half strike was enough to hand Hearts of Oak a vital win over their city-rivals Great Olympics to emerge champions of the 2025 edition of the Democracy Cup.
This is the second edition of the Democracy Cup, which is played annually and is organized by the Ghana Parliament to celebrate Ghana’s democratic journey through football and was graced by the President H.S John Dramani Mahama.
Having lost the first edition to bitter rivals Asante Kotoko, the ‘Phobians’ made amends with a narrow win over their neighbors to add the trophy to their collection.
Hearts of Oak started the game on a good note and made their intentions of finding the back of the net clear but couldn’t really create enough chances to threaten their opponents.
The Wonder Club also looked very well organized and solid defensively to curb their opponent’s attacks even though they also came close on some few occasions.
Back from recess, it was an explosive return for the Rainbow Club after Martin Karikari went past his markers and sent in a goal-bound curler but was parried away by goalkeeper Doe Atiso.
Despite staying strong in post, Hearts of Oak finally managed to unlock the Olympics defense and find the back of the net in the 70th minute courtesy a right-footed hit from Kwesi Asmah.
Seven minutes later, Great Olympics came so close to getting the leveller but goalkeeper Sharif Shuaib was up to the task after tipping off the crossbar brilliantly to a wasted corner kick.
Hearts of Oak finished the game as 1-0 winners and are the 2025 champions of the Democracy Cup.
