Black Starlets for Under-17 World Cup in India--Despite loss to Mali

The National Under-17 soccer team, the Black Starlets have qualified for this year’s Under-17 World Cup in India despite their painful 1-0 loss to Mali in the final of the African Under-17 Championship.

The Starlets qualified because they made it to the semi final of the African Championship after defeating Cameroun 4-0 and host Gabon 5-0 in the group stages of the competition.

The Starlets, whose players comprised mostly senior high school graduates lost the opportunity to be the first team to win the African Under-17 trophy for the third time in 22 years. They conceded the only goal of the match in the 21st minute through a penalty rebound by Malian, Mamadou Samake.

It is the second time Ghana has lost to Mali in the Under-17 championship. The first was 20 years ago when the Malians defeated the Starlets 2-1 at the semi-final stage in Botswana.

Ghana, however, defeated Mali in 1995 and 2005 1-0 and 3-2 respectively at the preliminary stages of the competition in Mali and The Gambia.
The Under-17 World Cup will start in New Delhi, India on October 6.