Satellites In Benin To Conquer
Ghana's Under-20 football team, the Black Satellites are in neighbouring Benin with just one mission: To claim a result good enough to take them to the 2011 edition of the African Youth Championships (AYC) to be staged in Libya.
After overcoming Namibia 5-1 in their second round qualifying matches over two legs, the Satellites say they are going all out in Cotonou to make the second leg in Accra a mere formality.
Last Wednesday the team left for Benin, and head coach Orlando Wellington said they were confident of getting a good result despite the cagey nature of the first leg qualifier.
“ It’s not going to be easy as every team tries to overcome us as the defending champions, but we are well aware of the challenges and have braced ourselves up for it,” he told the Graphic Sports before they left for Cotonou, the Benin capital.
He said the stakes, no doubt, were high as the loser of the two-leg game would miss the boat to Libya and said his charges were determined to claim the chance to defend the title their predecessors won two years ago in Rwanda.
'We have prepared well and are very conscious of the stakes at hand.
The boys know that there is no second chance as only the eventual winners will advance to Libya.
“ The work-rate of the team has been impressive and I’m happy with the level of confidence in camp.
That does not mean, though, that they are going to be complacent,” Coach Wellington said.
Coach Wellington has kept faith with the team that won the match against Namibia
The list includes four foreign-based players — Mahatma Otoo, Richmond Boakye-Yiadom, Afriyie Acquah and James Bissue.
The others are Akwasi Acheampong, Ibrahim Alhassan, Bright Addae, Francis Morton, Karim Alhassan, Ebo Andoh, Yusif Ali, Said, Aaron Amoah, Jacob Ackon, Eric Opoku, Abdul Yusif Aziz, William Dickson, Laud Ofusu-hene, Sadat Karim and Eric Aquah.