Black Starlets were not good enough to match Mali - J. E. Sarpong

Vociferous coach, J. E. Sarpong believe the Black Starlets were not good enough to match Mali.

The Starlets were aiming to win the ultimate but lost painfully to the Malians in the finals of the U-17 Youth Championship in Gabon at the Stade de L’Amite in Libreville on Sunday.

After exhibiting impressive performance in the tournament, many Ghanaian football enthusiasts believed they team were on course of winning the trophy but unfortunately lost to the Malians.

Striker, Mamadou Samake was lucky as he followed up the rebound to give Mali the lead in the 22nd minute.
Ten minutes later, the Black Starlets conceded yet another foul in the box but goalkeeper, Danlad Ibrahim punched the ball away to keep the Black Starlets in the game.

However, the former Ebusua Dwarfs trainer believes the team was not good enough.

"The early goal cost the team and we saw it during the match". He told Asempa FM.

"The team did very well but the Malians were better than us. The spirit of the players was diminished after they conceded that unfortunate early goal.

"I am happy for them but but the team was unlucky because Starlets was simply not good enough." He added.

The win means Mali retained the trophy which they won in 2015 in Niger Republic.

They also joined Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia as the only countries who have won the U-17 AFCON twice.

In the third-place game played also on Sunday, Guinea defeated Niger Republic 3-1.