Black Starlets eye final berth - As they face Niger in CAF U-17 semis

Ghana’s national U-17 male football team, Black Starlets, have their sights set on a final berth,  as they face Le Mena Cadets of Niger this afternoon in the first semi-final game of the ongoing Africa U-17 Championship in Gabon at the Stade de Port Gentil later today.

The sterling performance at the group stage have placed the Starlets in the favourites bracket to go through to the next stage of the competition, though they admit it will not be an easy fight.

The Starlets come into this semi-final game having scored nine goals and without conceding a goal,  a record they are keen to maintain against a cagey Nigerien side, who had to wait till the final game to score to get into the semis.

This is the second time the two sides are meeting, albeit the first being a friendly in Accra when both were preparing for the Gabon trip. Then, the Starlets won both legs played with a 2-0 and 2-1 result respectively and thus have a fair idea the kind of opposition they will encounter.

Coach Paa Kwesi Fabin of the Starlets told cafonline.com that his side had a bright chance of qualifying to the next stage of the competition though they would not underrate their opponents.

The 58-year-old trainer has warned his troops against complacency when they clash with Niger saying, “In fact, we are happy they've qualified together with us because we played two friendlies with them as part of our preparations for this competition but a semi-final match is not the same as a friendly, so we will leave no stone unturned".

Niger’s Coach Ismaila Tiemoko , on the other hand, says he is not worried about the young Ghanaians’ impressive statistics at the tournament, and was ready to upset the Starlets in order to continue  their quest of winning the title for the first time.

 "We have made history already with by qualifying  for the World Cup for the first time, but we are not satisfied yet; we want to go all the way and win the trophy for the first time as well”. 

“Though we lost two friendly matches against Ghana before arriving here, we are on the same level now with Ghana because we have both qualified for the semi-finals, and we are not going to play them with fear or respect,” the 52-year-old trainer indicated.