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Guwahati, October 21
With very little separating the two teams in strategy and technique, Ghana could count on their better defensive organisation skills against Mali in an all-African quarterfinal of the FIFA U-17 World Cup tomorrow.
Two-time champions Ghana are seeking to revive their glory days in the tournament, having last won it way back in 1995. They have shown the intent from the word go, and barring the reverse against USA in the group stage, the Ghanaians have been on the ball.
Ghana had lost to Mali 0-1 in the final of the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations and they would be determined to avenge that loss. Besides a tight defensive unit and the speed of their attackers, Ghana will be backed up by a handful of vociferous globe-trotting supporters.
Having topped Group A, Samuel Fabin’s boys eased into the last-8 with goals from skipper Eric Ayiah striking twice. Ayiah has led the Black Starlets from the front and is one of the top scorers of the tournament.
“Definitely when you come to play a match of this nature, you look at the fans and when you see your countrymen there, it gives you confidence. They always expect us to beat Mali. The expectations are very huge, I would say,” Fabin said. Thanks to their rock-solid defence comprising Najeeb Yakubu and Gideon Mensah, Ghana have conceded just one goal in three matches. They have also displayed a pacy brand of football, with Ayiah finding the back of the net against India and Niger.
Mali will certainly be high on confidence having pumped in five goals against Iraq and even though the Iraqi coach had accused them of fielding overage players, Jonas Komla’s side would not read too much into that. Mali’s Lassana N’Diaye has now scored five goals in four matches and he will fancy his chances against Ghana.
Mali have already conceded five goals in the tournament and they would need to tighten their defence against their strong African rivals. While Ghana topped their group with two wins, Mali stood second in Group C with equal number of victories.
England vs USA
Margao: England and USA will face each other in their quarterfinal match here tomorrow, aiming to enhance their reputation in this age-group event which they are yet to win despite a strong tradition of qualifying for the global finals. The United States of America’s best effort remains a fourth-place finish in the 1999 edition.
England made their FIFA U-17 World Cup debut a decade ago, with India-2017 being the Young Lions’ fourth outing on the global stage at this age level. They reached the quarterfinals on debut in 2007, when they were beaten by Germany.
