By Ameenu Shardow
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Ghana winger Christian Atsu emerged the star of the night as the Black Stars thrashed a locally select side in an exhibition match meant to bid them an official farewell as they embark on yet another World Cup campaign in Brazil.
The Chelsea player scored a hat trick in Ghana's 6-1 mauling of the Dream Team before an impressive crowd including Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday.
Atsu who is on the books of English giants Chelsea but spent last season on loan at Vitesse got the show running as early as the second minute when he danced his way through a timid defence to smash in the opening goal.
He then went on to score two others with Jordan Ayew and Albert Adomah also getting in on the act to finish the first half with an impressive 5-0 scoreline.
Coach Kwesi Appiah had Stephen Adams in post with Samuel Inkoom, Jerry Akaminko, Jonathan Mensah and Jeffrey Schlupp making up the back four for the first half.
The Black Stars trainer chose the midfield combination of Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Afriyie Acquah, Albert Adomah and live wire Christian Atsu with David Accam and Jordan Ayew spearheading the attack.
Ghana's fluid build up play caused a lot of problems for the Dream Team's defence who looked unwilling to rush into tackles over fear of injuring the world cup bound stars.
Herbert Addo's side however improved tremendously in the second half with most of the players relatively unknown.
The Dream Team excited the impressive crowd with their sumptuous short-passing game which was a real delight to watch especially against a star-studded Black Stars side.
Things slowed up a bit in the second half with Kwesi Appiah making wholesale changes which saw the introduction of Fatau Dauda, Harrison Afful, Abdul Majeed Waris, Rashid Sumaila, John Boye, Rabiu Mohammed and Mubarak Wakaso.
Daniel Opare, Sulley Muntari, Andre Ayew and captain Asamoah Gyan also saw some action.
The Dream Team got a deserved consolation through Bright Adjei who scored from the spot.
Their respite was however short lived as Sulley Muntari wrapped up the impressive performance with a well taken free kick.
The team will now depart from Accra on Saturday evening for their training camp in Rotterdam where they will play the Netherlands in an international friendly.
The Black Stars will then move camp to the US where they will face Korea Republic in another friendly on June 9 before arriving at their team base in Maceio two days later for the World Cup.