Coach Jimmy Cobblah
The national U-20 male football team, the Black Satellites will leave for Niger on Sunday for acclimatisation ahead of the upcoming 15th African Youth Championship (AYC) on February 2-17.
It will mark a return for Ghana to the championship after missing out on the last edition.
The Satellites will be based in the city of Maradi where they were drawn in group B alongside Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso for the two-week soccer fiesta that will see the semi finalists represent Africa at the 22nd FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland between May and June, 2019.
The team began camping for the tournament in November with the local components taking part in the eight nation WAFU U-20 tournament in Togo in December where they lost 1-0 and 4-1 to Niger and Nigeria, respectively.
Head Coach of the team, Jimmy Cobblah told the Times Sports the team has commenced preparations from January 3 at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram.
The team, he said, moved to the Sogakope Sun City Hotel on January 5 where they stepped up preparations last week by thrashing Victoria FC 9-0, Susubribi 7-0 and Mighty Jets 3-1 in friendly matches.
The Satellites will come up against Premier League side, Dreams FC today before finalising their local preparations against Accra Hearts Oak at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday before emplaning for Niger.
Coach Cobblah explained the decision to travel early was for acclimatisation purposes.
The target for the team, he pointed out, was to first qualify for the World Cup in Poland before setting eyes on winning the trophy at stake.
Already, foreign based players like Nurudeen Abdul Manaf, Mohammed Kudus, Kelvin Kwarteng Yeboah, Fahd Ibrahim, Michael Baidoo, Frank Arhin have reported in camp and Coach Cobblah is expecting a full house by tomorrow with the rest of the foreign based players including Isaac Atanga, Gideon Mensah, Sadiq Ibrahim and Enock Atta Agyei expected to join the team before Sunday’s departure.
Ghana will open the tournament account against Mali on February 3 and then play Burkina Faso on February 6 before playing Senegal three days later.
By Raymond Ackumey
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