U-17 World Cup: Mali look to halt Ghana

Guwahati: With very little separating the two in terms of strategy and technique, Ghana will count on better defensive organisation against Mali in their all-Africa quarter-final of the U-17 World Cup here on Saturday.

Two-time champions Ghana are seeking to revive their glory days in the tournament, having last won it way back in 1995.

They have shown the intent from the word go, and barring the reverse against USA in the group stage, the Ghanians have been on the ball.

Ghana lost 1-0 by Mali in the final of the Under-17 African championship, and they will be determined to avenge that loss.

Besides a tight defence and the speed of their attackers, Ghana will be backed up by a handful of vociferous globe-trotting supporters, who have been seen in all the venues so far in the tournament.

After a 2-0 win over debutants Niger in the pre-quarterfinals, Samuel Fabin’s boys, way of a gesture, celebrated the victory with their backers.

Having topped Group A, Ghana eased into the last eight with goals from skipper Eric Ayiah striking twice. Ayiah has led the Black Starlets from the front and is one of the top scorers of the tournament.

He will certainly be one of the players to watch out for at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. Up against their west African counterparts, Ayiah, as well as coach Fabin, know the importance of the game.

“Definitely when you come to play a match of this nature, you look at the fans and when you see your countrymen there, it gives you confidence to (perform). They always expect us to win. The expectations are very huge, I would say,” Fabin said.
He, however, remained concerned about the team’s low conversion rate and wasted chances against Niger.

“Definitely, it is a concern, the erratic shooting and indecision. It is a work in progress. We will keep correcting such mistakes till we get what we want. I am satisfied with the two goals we scored.”

While they left their opponents panting with their speed, the Ghanaians are aware that cutting through the Mali defence is a different proposition altogether.

Mali will certainly be high on confidence having pumped in five goals against Iraq and even though the Iraqi coach had accused them of fielding over-age players, Jonas Komla’s side will not read too much into that.

Mali’s Lassana N’Diaye has now scored five goals in four matches and he will want to be on the scoresheet against Ghana. Against Iraq, Mali toyed with the defence with repeated forays. Ghana are expected to be a different ballgame, though, and heading into the game coach Komla’s biggest concern is the defence.