Sulley Ready For Satellites Challenge

The new national under-20 football coach, Alhaji Sulley Mohammed, is to raise a winsome squad for the Toulouse Invitational tournament in France, four days after his appointment.

The May tournament starts his roadmap towards breaking the jinx of the team's inability to qualify for the African Youth Championship for two consecutive times.

Coach Suley was an assistant to Coach Francis Oti Akenten when the Satellites failed to qualify for the Championship in Benin and Congo Brazzaville in 2004 and early this year respectively.

He, together with his deputy, Nuru of Wa All Stars are to chart a new course for the team which is likely to be built around the current national under-17 football team, the Black Satellites, for the next qualifiers.

The former King Solomon, Okwawu United and now Real Sportive coach said the bane of the previous squads was thelate appointment of previous coaches.

He said with a year to the next championship, he could prepare adequately and present a side capable of rising to the occasion.

Coach Suley said having worked under some of the country's senior coaches, including Emmanuel Afranie, whom he assisted to win silver at the World Youth Championship in Argentina in 2001, he should be able to design his model of a good team to conquer any opposition.

Story by Daniel Kenu