Sunday’s Olympic qualifier in Tamale ; Meteors ready for Liberia

Veteran coach Malik Jabir carries a huge burden to make the Black Meteors candidates for Rio 2016 Olympic Games as they open another campaign against Liberia in a first round first leg qualifier at the Tamale Stadium on Sunday.

The Meteors hope to be third time lucky after missing the boat for the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games.

The home-based Ghanaian squad hope to draw inspiration from their recent qualification to the September All Africa Games in Brazzaville after thrashing Mozambique 2-0 at the same venue, despite losing the first leg 0-1 away.

In the absence of some foreign-based players who contributed to that victory, the highly-confident Meteors have been preparing feverishly up north in the past week to ensure a convincing win over the Liberians who arrived last Wednesday in high spirits, hoping to be strengthened by the trio of Herron Scarla Berrian (Greece), Sporo Somah (Cote d’Ivoire) and US-based Cooper Gaypia.

Jabir, himself an Olympian at Munich 1972, hinted of a major shake-up in the Meteors after their All Africa Games conquest, and is reported to have drafted in Ebusua Dwarfs’ potent striker Richard Gadze, while considering starting New Edubiase United’s new sensation, Abdul Latif Analbila, this time around.

Interestingly, Ghana might host the return leg in two weeks time at the instance of Liberia due to the Ebola outbreak in that country.

The Meteors, after dismissing the Junior Lone Star, are due to take on Congo in the second round, and Nigeria in the final eliminator prior to the novelty 2015 CAF U-23 Championship in Senegal in December. The three top teams from the eight-nation tournament will qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.