Ghana U-17s Ready For USA Challenge

Ghana will chase a second successive victory at the U-17 World Cup when they face United States at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi today.
The West Africans got their tournament off to a strong start when they defeated Colombia 1-0 in their Group A opener on Friday, with Sadiq Ibrahim scoring the only goal of the game.
Yet the Black Starlets coach Samuel Paa Kwesi Fabin was not entirely happy with his team’s display and will want to see an improvement for their match with the USA.
“I’m a bit disappointed in the play because that’s not how we play. We keep the ball and pass it around but it looked as if we abandoned our style and we were trying to play long balls like the Colombians and it was not working for for us,” Fabin explained.
“But I’m happy because it’s the group stage and to have taken three points in your first match, it’s good, it’s very good, so I’m happy for that.
“I’ll give credit to our goalkeeper and the defence, I think they did tremendously well.”
The defence may need to be at their best again on Monday, as the USA looked a potent attacking force in their 3-0 win over hosts India. Josh Sargent, Chris Durkin and Andre Carleton scored the goals for coach John Hackworth’s side.
Ghana and USA have met twice before in the U-17 World Cup, with the Black Starlets claiming 2-0 wins in both 1995 in Quito and 1999 in Auckland.
Meanwhile, Debutants Niger made history on Saturday by winning their first match at the Under-17 World Cup in India, but Guinea were beaten in their opening group fixture.
Niger were 1-0 winners over North Korea in Kochi to record a victory in their first Group D match.
Salim Abdourahmane struck Niger’s goal in the 59th minute to seal the win.
Brazil is top of Group D after a 2-1 win over Spain.
Niger will next play Spain tomorrow.
In Goa, Guinea fell  3-1 to Iran in their first match of Group C.
After a tight first half, Iran raced to a 3-0 lead in the final 30 minutes of the match with goals from Allahyar Sayyad, Mohammad Sharifi and Saeid Karimi.
Guinea got a consolation goal in stoppage time through Fandje Toure.
Iran are top of Group C followed by Germany who beat Costa Rica 2-1.
Guinea, who is bottom of the standings, faces Costa Rica next tomorrow.