AFCON U-20: Ghana thump Tanzania 4-0 in group opener

Ghana’s Black satellites announced their return to the Africa U-20 Championship with an emphatic opening day victory over debutants Tanzania.

Precious Boah’s brace, Issaku Fatawu’s sensational strike, and Schalke forward Josepho Barnes flicking goal was all that Ghana needed to beat Tanzania 4-0 in their opening group C game.

The three-time champions wasted no time in establishing their intentions after Precious Boah’s curling freekick took a dink before beating the Tanzanian goalie for the opener after just three minutes.

Abdul Issaku Fatawu scored what could end up being the goal of the tournament, after brilliantly firing right after the second circle to make it two before halftime.

Coach Karim Zito replaced winger Eric Appiah with Legon Cities Star Mathew Anim Cudjoe.

Moments later, Precious Boah doubled his tally to make it three for Ghana after receiving a pass from Sulemana Mohammed, before dummying one defender and slotting in beautifully.

Despite the strong performance by the WAFU champions, Tanzania had their best moments but Dan Lad Ibrahim made two brilliant saves in the 70th minute to deny them a consolation.

Patrick Mensah came on for goalscorer Precious Boah with Daniel Barnieh also replacing Issahaku with eight minutes left.

Second-half substitute Anim Cudjoe brilliantly found Josepho Barnes with two minutes left, and the Schalke youth team player made no mistake by finishing expertly as Ghana thrashed Tanzania.

The Black Satellites will next play Morocco on Friday and a win will send them to the knockout stages.