Audio By Carbonatix
Ghana U20 coach Abdul Karim Zito reveals his team have achieved their main target of the ongoing Wafu B U20 Cup of Nations by their qualification for next year's Africa U20 Cup of Nations tournament in Mauritania.
The Black Satellites sealed their progress with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win over Niger in the Wafu Cup semi-final which also guaranteed a place in the final of the competition.
The match had ended 0-0 after extra-time at Stade de Gaules in Porto Novo in Benin.
“We came in for the qualification. After securing that, we’re going to also fight for the cup,” Zito told Silver FM.
“Personally, I am okay with the qualification. But if we are also able to win the cup, that will be great.
“We are not going to relax in our pursuit for the ultimate, we will go all out [to win the trophy],”
Ghana's shoot-out win was remarkable considering the nation's penalty woes at various international competitions in recent times.
On Tuesday, all five penalty takers, including goalkeeper William Emmanuel Essu, who was introduced into the game just before extra-time full-time, expertly converted their kicks, much to the admiration of many.
“Penalties are often Ghana’s bane. So as part of my training, penalties are practised at the end of every session,” Zito said.
“We tried this severally before leaving Ghana for the tournament.
“The goalkeeper [Essu] we introduced for Danlad [Ibrahim] is good at taking penalties and also his frame makes him a good option to scare opponents in shootout scenarios.
“So we always leave one change available for such an instance. It is something we practice at training and you can see that for once we were able to score all the kicks.
“We were repeating this all the time so we were certain of those who would take the kicks."
In the final, Ghana are set to take on Burkina Faso who handed Cote d'Ivoire a big 4-1 defeat in the second semi-final fixture on Tuesday.
At the U20 Afcon next year, the top for nations will be rewarded with tickets to represent the continent at the 2021 Fifa U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
Latest Stories
-
Unauthorised drone flights banned at Manhyia Palace
9 minutes -
Aksa bribery scandal: Ghana’s probe must be pursued with speed – Dafeamekpor
25 minutes -
Samson’s Take: When religion threatens peace, sanity must prevail
56 minutes -
Friendship: Why time matters less than continuity
1 hour -
Africa’s AI moment: They say data is the new gold. But who is drilling it?
1 hour -
Ghana delivers strong performance in retail market in half-year; value up 15.6% – Maverick Research
1 hour -
The world’s oldest president left for a ‘brief stay’ in Europe. He hasn’t returned in two months
1 hour -
Parliamentary committee commends GIPA’s investment drive, backs key reforms
2 hours -
Livestream: Newsfile discusses AKSA energy deal, legal vacation and GoldBod losses
2 hours -
Jason Arday: 10 things you may not know about British-born Ghanaian former Cambridge professor found dead at 41
4 hours -
KNUST partners with government to manufacture locally-made agricultural machines and smart traffic lights
4 hours -
Government to add constitutional referendum to 2027 District Assembly elections
5 hours -
Ambassador Nancy Sam meets South Africa’s Thanda to strengthen Africa tourism collaboration
5 hours -
Government disburses GH¢23.1 billion to clear road contractors’ arrears – Roads Minister
6 hours -
NPP Ashanti elections: 1,020 delegates to choose 11 regional executives
7 hours