Ghana Crush Out Of African Youth Cup

Ghana crushed out of the ongoing African Youth Cup in burkina faso after losing 2—3 to Ivory Coast in the final group match.

The result means the Black Satellites would miss the FIFA World Youth Championship for only the second time since 1995.

Ghana went into the game needing to win to qualify for the semi finals but a lackluster display ensured otherwise. The team was also not helped by the injury to midfielder Razak Ibrahim who limped off under just thirty minutes with a hamstring injury.

The Ivorians scored first via a spot kick after their lead striker went pst almost all the Ghanaian defenders before he was brought dozn by Patrick Villars after just thirteen minutes. It didn’t take long for Ghana to equalise though. Derek Boateng held the ball well befoe playing in Yahuza Abubakar who innitial connection was blocked by the Ivory Coast’s Ghanaian born goalkeeper Daniel Yeboah. Captain Lukeman was however in the right place at the right tile to knock in the rebound.

Ghana pressed for the vital lead but the Ivorians were excellent with the offside trap and suceeded in holding the Satellites back with that. When they went forward however, they were brilliant and made the most of the opportunities they created. ASEC'S Antonion danced round the Ghanaian defence and laid on for Toni who hit it hard but Isaac Amoako for a second.

That was in the 37 minute and the Ghanaians walked off at half time confident they could overturn the deficit in the second half. But any hopes of a revival were dashed after the Ivorians scored almost immediately after restart to take a 3-1 lead.

It was all Ghana afterwards but the team could just not find the vital final touch until the 28th minute of the first half when Derek Boateng laid on beautifully on for Sule Muntari to score a second and revive Ghana’s hopes.

There were still opportunities for Ghana to have drawn level but either the players were simply not up to it or they appeared completely disinterested at times.

While no one would speak publicly , much of the blame for this defeat was directed at Coach Edusei. He had said before the tournament that considering how poor preparations had been, Ghanaians were not to expect anything extraordinary. In the end, he was proved right. The question now is whether the ill preparation can be solely held responsible for the flop.

Satellites: Issac Amoaku, Imoro Lukman, Muntari Salui, Micheal Ocansey, Jonathan Quartey/Kwadwo Poku, William Thompson, Abubakar Yahuza, Derek Boateng, Daniel Coleman, Villars Patrick, Ibrahim Razak/Suley Muntari.

Egypt Qualify

A hat-trick by Ibrahim Emad helped Egypt to the semi-finals of the African Youth Championship. They beat Morocco 4-0 in Ouagadougou on Saturday.
Emad opened scoring by converting a goal from a goalkeeping error in the 19th minute.
In the 41st minute, he pounced on a cross to make it 2-0, with Ahmed Said got the third strike with a volley that hit the top right hand corner of the net.
Morocco finished the game with 10 players, after Fouad Taoumi was sent-off for dissent in the 90th minute.
Ahmed Shoubeir, Egypt's former captain and goalkeeper, said his country deserved to reach the last four.
"It's been many years since Egypt failed to beat Morocco.
"This 4-0 score line is convincing enough to show that we have improved.
"We had a bad start in the competition because we didn't play friendlies but we are confident of playing in the final," said Shoubeir, a member of the Egyptian FA and head of the country's delegation at the tournament.