Satellites coach confident of African Games success

The head coach of Ghana's U-20 male football team, Desmond Ofei, is exuding confidence in his team's ability to clinch victory at the 13th African Games in Accra.

Amid rigorous training sessions at their base in Cape Coast, following the first phase of preparation at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence at Prampram, Coach Ofei emphasised the Black Satellites' dedication to achieving their target of claiming the gold medal.

Preparation

To ensure the target is achieved, Coach Ofei and his charges have engaged in rigorous training rudiments at their camping base in Cape Coast. This comes after weeks of intensive training at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence at Prampram.

"We are at the final hurdle towards the tournament. You know for the past three weeks, we have been at Prampram and have been working hard now here in Cape Coast. The journey has been positive; there have been a lot of positives because I think the team is progressing nicely," he told ghanafa.org.

“This African Games mean a lot to us and we want to prove something to the nation. The boys are really hungry and ready to showcase their talents.”

Player selection

However, Coach Ofei acknowledged the challenges of player selection, given the limited squad size mandated by the CAF.

"It wasn’t an easy one because we were hoping to get a squad of 25 players... But for this competition, CAF chose to go for 20 players," he explained.

Despite the tough decisions, he believes the coaching staff have assembled a strong side "to get the right balance in the team".

Calling for nationwide support, the coach urged Ghanaians to fill the stadiums and rally behind the team. "We need the support of Ghanaians and it's going to be an amazing event. I am sure we can do some magic at this African Games," he declared.

Ghana have been pooled in Group A alongside Congo, Benin and the Gambia. The Satellites get their campaign off against the Congolese on Saturday, March 9 at the Accra Sports Stadium.