African U-17 Championship: Ghana, Nigeria In Same Group

The group pairings for the African U-17 Championship finals have been revealed, following Wednesday's draw in Lome, the capital of Togo.

Ghana were handed the top seed tag in Group B of the championship in the draw. The group, which is a tough one, will also see Ghana renew their rivalry with Nigeria in the same group.

Burkina Faso and Eritrea are the other group members.

Ghana will open their Group B account with a game against second seed, Burkina Faso, on March 11 in the city of Kegue.

Three days after the group opener, Ghana line up against Eritrea on March 14.

And the Black Starlets will save the best for last when they clash with their Nigerian rivals on March 17 in the final Group B game.

Togo, hosts of the championship, will kick off the competition with a game against South Africa on March 10 in Group A, to be played in Kegue.

The group also has Gabon and Tunisia.

The final of the two-week championship will kick off on March 24.

Executive Committee member and head of the Black Starlets management team, Edward Awuah Nyamekye, represented Ghana at the draw.

Ghana, silver medalist in the 2005 competition hosted by The Gambia, qualified for this year's event after edging out Cote d'Ivoire last month.

And as Ghana seek to win the continental trophy at this level for the third time in seven appearances, the Black Starlets coach, Fred Osam Duodu, will also be hoping to win it back-to-back.

Osam Duodu will be making a second successive appearance at the African U-17 Championship, after guiding The Gambia to win the trophy at the expense of Ghana when they hosted the event in 2005.

Participating countries: Ghana, Eritrea, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Tunisia, South Africa and host, Togo

Source: ghanafa.org