Satellites In Group Of Death

The next edition of CAF youth championship comes off in Burkina Faso from January 4th - 18th 2003,and Ghana's youth soccer team,the Black Satellites have been drawn in the group dubbed "The group of Death".

This group 'B', comprises Morocco,Ivory Coast and Egypt. The Satellites start the championship with a tie against Morocco on Jan. 5th and Egypt, Ivory Coast on Jan. 8th & 11th respectively.

Group'A' is also made of; Mali, South Africa ,Gabon & the host Burkina Faso.

‘Satellites ’ll survive Group of Death’ - Edusei

COACH Anthony Kwabena (A.K) Edusei, head coach of the Black Satellites has assured that they are going to survive the so-called group of death in the impending African Youth Championship in Burkina Faso, come January.

He maintained that the Satellites will be ready for any level of opposition which will confront them at the tournament.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports from his Kumasi base yesterday, the soft-spoken coach indicated that the Satellites will not be intimidated by their group B opponents comprising Morocco, Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire.

Though he conceded to the assertion by the pundits that especially Morocco and Egypt could pose a threat to the Ghanaians in their capacity as former African Champions at that level, Coach Edusei insisted on making the most out of the competition.

He stated that he was going to marshal all forces to ensure that a very formidable Satellites squad is paraded to excel at the championship.

“All we need to do is to prepare adequately, and with that we hope to make a headway”, he revealed.

“As I always say, the team is being built for the future and the African Championship which is the immediate objective will be used as the launching pad”, he noted.

He was quite optimistic that the Satellites will be among the four best teams to qualify for the World Youth Championship to be hosted in the United Arab Emirate from March to April next year.

The Satellites who have a pedigree in the history of the competition won the 11th edition held in Ghana in 1999 and were runners - up to Angola in Ethiopia last year.

They also extended their exploits to the world stage when they finished second to Argentina in the World Champion hosted by that country.