WAFU U-20: Black Satellites book Afcon 2021 ticket

Ghana’s Black Satellites are through to the final of the ongoing Wafu B U20 Cup of Nations in Benin after beating Niger in the semi-finals.

The National U-20 ensured this result by winning via a 5-3 penalty shoot-out after the game ended barren even after extra time.

Head Coach of Satellites, Karim Zito made four changes to the squad he used for the previous game against Ivory Coast for the Niger battle.

Defender Nathaniel Adjei, striker Percious Boah, Abdul Mugese Zakaria, and Suleymana Mohammed all made starts.

Both teams failed to produce a goal during normal time despite creating numerous chances and had to settle for a penalty shoot-out, of which Ghana recorded a perfect record; scoring all attempted kicks while Niger missed one.

The win has not only set Ghana up for the finals with the victors of the second semi-final fixture between Group B winners Cote d’Ivoire and Group A runners-up Burkina Faso but also secured Abdul Karim Zito’s side qualification ticket for the 2021 Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Mauritania.

Ghana came into the semi-final game after placing second in Group B following a 1-0 loss to Cote d’Ivoire and a 1-0 win over arch-rivals Nigeria in the group stage.

Niger, on the other hand, finished top of Group A after a 1-1 draw with Togo, 0-0 stalemate with Burkina Faso, and 1-0 victory over hosts Benin.

The two finalists at the sub-regional tournament secure qualification ticket for next year’s African championship.

At the continental gathering, the four semi-finalists will get the nod to represent Africa at the 2020 Fifa U20 World Cup in Indonesia.

Ghana won the U20 Afcon in 1993, 1999 and 2009, where they also went on to win the world cup in Egypt after beating Brazil at the finals.