The Black Satellites of Ghana will be hoping to get the needed perfect start this evening when they lock horns with Tanzania in Group C of the 2021 Under 20 tournament currently going on in Mauritania.
Ghana is not new to this age group of football on the African continent as they have already won the competition twice which was on home soil in 1999 and in Rwanda a decade later.
This new breed of Ghana Under 20 players qualified for the U20 AFCON by emerging as winners of the WAFU B zone competition held in December last year in which they defeated neighbors Burkina Faso by two goals to one in the finals.
Tanzania on the other hand will be making their first appearance in the competition have booked their ticket as runners-up of the CECAFA area edition in which they hosted and lost to Tanzania in the finals.
The Black Satellites are expected to defeat the East Africans today looking at their pedigree and preparations so far for the tournament.
Ghana head coach Abdul Karim Zito has beefed up his team with a number of players including Schalke 04’s Joselpho Barnes and they are now firing from all angles.
In three friendly games they played at home prior to this tournament, the Satellites won all with Schalke 04 winger Joselpho Barnes netting a total of four goals and providing one assist.
The introduction of the 18-year-old winger who was born in Germany to Ghanaian parents undoubtedly has been very efficient for the Satellites as the attack has been very dominant especially from the wings.
Also, the team still has mercurial striker Percious Boah who netted two goals as the team won the WAFU event. In Boah, the Satellites have a deadly striker who is also a dead ball expert and can deliver the goals any time.
Tanzania will also be relying on attacker Abdul Suleiman in the final third of the field. The talented striker netted hat trick which were all penalties in their last friendly game against Uganda in which they won by five goals to three at home.
Also offensive midfielder Kelvin John is another player that the Black Satellites must keep a close eye on as he can be very dangerous on any day.
Ghana are firm favorites to win this game but they must eschew complacency to make that dream a reality.
