[ 2011-04-21 ]

The Black Satellites must beat Gambia to keep hopes alive

Coach Wellington issues final Black Satellites rallying cry
Ghana U20 coach Orlando Wellington has urged his
players to prove they can deliver under pressure
when they meet Gambia in a make-or-break showdown
at the Africa Youth Championship on Thursday.

The World Cup champions suffered a jolt on Monday
when they were defeated 2-1 by arch rival Nigeria
in their opening Group B match.



Ghana must beat Gambia to keep alive their hopes
of reaching the prestigious World Cup in Colombia
in July.

And having dominated the continent and the world
over the past two years, the Black Satellites
coach Wellington told Kickoffghana they cannot
afford to let the opportunity slip through their
fingers.


“The players are aware this is a do or die
affair. We either win or forget about playing in
the world cup which will be a big blow for Ghana
and they are ready for that challenge,”
Wellnigton said.

The Black Satellites fluffed several scoring
chances in their opening game and Wellington says
the players must convert the chances they get.

“There will be little for error so we have to
cut out mistakes. Our place in the world cup
hinges on a good result here, so does our
ambitions of winning the trophy,” Wellnigton
said.

“But we have to tackle first things first and
the most important thing now is to focus the minds
of the players and the team on getting the
required three points to stay in the competition
for a place in the semi-final.”

The Ghana coach is aware that the game will not be
a stroll in the park as Gambia also lost their
opening game against Cameroon on Monday.

This means the Young Scorpions must also come out
to fight otherwise they will be eliminated if they
lose.

“Like us Gambia must win and they are a very
good side with an ability to play some good
football. We have played them several times so we
know how to approach this,” Wellington said.

The kick off time of the Ghana-Gambia game is
1300GMT .

Source - Ghanasoccer

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