Angola Dethrones Ghana As African U-20 Champions

Angola are the new youth champions of Africa after denying Ghana a second successive title in the final of the Under-20 Nations Cup in Ethiopia.

Second-half goals by Antonio Viana Mendonca and Lourenço Tomas were enough to dethrone Ghana, who were the favourites to retain the title they won at home in 1999.

Angolan players burst into tears after the final whistle as the young Palancas Negras celebrated their country's first ever continental football trophy. It was a hard-fought game right from the start, with both teams only managing to create half-chances.

Angola broke the deadlock in the 57th minute through Mendonca, who blasted a rebound into the net after goalkeeper Maxwell Owusu-Banahene had denied both Lourenço and Pedro Mantorras from close range.

Lourenço had received a pass to beat the Ghanaian offside trap before his shot was blocked by Maxwell, and Mantorras was also unable to beat the Ghanaian goalie.

However, the approaching Mendonca made no mistake with the third attempt to score his second goal of the tournament.

With seven minutes remaining, Angola took advantage of a second Ghanaian defensive blunder for Lourenço to score easily.

Substitute Michael Essien was dispossessed as he tried to clear the ball, and it fell to Mantorras, who laid it off perfectly for Lourenço to find the net.

Before the goal Angola had survived several attempts by Ghana to draw level. Sulley Muntari hit the bar from a free-kick and keeper Joao Mamona had to use his reflexes to stop a series of crosses.

Muntari had also been denied by the angle of the bar two minutes from the interval.

Angola soaked up the pressure and probed the Ghanaians with swift counter-attacks.

The victory was Angola's revenge for the 1-0 loss to Ghana in the first group match for both sides.

Both sides took few chances in the first half and the cautious approach was made worse by some hasty finishing.

Angola's Luis dos Santos blasted over the bar with acres of space to finish easily and his header later in the first half had little power. Ghana almost took the lead through Derrick Boateng in the 11th minute, but his shot was off target.

Razak Pimpong also wasted Ghanaian chances which could have given his side the edge.

An emotional welcome is now awaiting the newly-crowned African champions in Luanda, as Angolan football makes a significant mark in continental football for the first time.

Egypt won the third place match by beating Ethiopia 2-0 with goals from Belgium-based Ahmed Hossam after two minutes and a second by Mohamed Abdel Wahed two minutes from time.

All four teams which reached the semi-finals will represent Africa at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina in June.

Summary Ghana 0-2 AngolaReferee: Reda Beltagy (Egypt) Attendance: 25000 Scorers: Tomas Lourenco “Lolo” 57’,85’ Third Place Match Addis Ababa, Ethiopia v Egypt 0-2 (0-1) Scorers: Hossam Ahmed 3’, Mohamed Abdel Wahed 87’ Best Eleven Players of the 12th African Youth Championship (01.04.2001) 01.Mamona Joao “Lama” Angola 03.Aboul Magd Mustafa Egypt 04.Mofokeng Gabriel South Africa 04.Hussien Amien Egypt 02.Mbeng Luc Cameroon 02.Muntary Ali Ghana 10.Boateng Derrick Ghana 08.Wael Reyad Egypt 11.Oduro Stephen Ghana 10.Manuel Pedro “Mantorras” Angola 11.El Yamany Mohamed Egypt