FEATURE: A foreigner's first experience with Ghana football, reliving the 2015 President's Cup

By Alex Morrison, University of Oregon
From the perspective of someone with very little previous interaction with the sport of football, and absolutely zero interaction with the Ghana Football Association, I did not know what to expect on my way to see my first professional match.

Growing up in America we often hear about the passion for the sport of football internationally, yet most never get to experience the passion first-hand. Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to see my first professional match at the President's Cup at the Accra Sports Stadium, and what I witnessed was truly something I will never forget.

I grew up playing American football, a sport with very few similarities to football here in Ghana and throughout the rest of the world. I thought it was sport built on passionate fan bases, unbreakable bonds between communities and their favorite players and rivalries forged in historically heated contests.

However, I can say after watching the President's Cup, American football has nothing on football here in Ghana. The passion alone from fans was something hard to describe. I overheard a conversation between two of my colleagues at the GFA and one of the men stated, 'I don't just watch a match with my eyes, I watch it with my heart.' This perfectly sums up football here in Ghana, and especially a game like the President's Cup between such bitter rivals.

Hearts of Oak beat Asante Kotoko on penalties to win the 2015 President’s Cup. Picture by Ryan Hagen, University of Oregon