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Finally; We Are World Under 20 Champions!
By Toyin | October 16, 2009
And so Ghana, our beloved West African neighbor and brothers are the FIFA Under 20 champions and I cannot but rejoice over what has eluded the whole of Africa for 32 years. The manner of the victory is also very interesting as again, like in the past, the referee did his best to do us in but only this time, the luck that seemed to have taken a trip in past finals contested by both Nigeria and Ghana decided to holiday with the Black Satellites and here we are.
I can visualize the burst of joy on the streets of Accra as the final penalty was expertly dispatched by Agyemang Badu to clinch the gold. This is what all Africans looked forward to; hosting and winning! For Ghana, it was a journey that ended well. Throughout the tournament, they played with conviction and grace. It didn’t take me long to tip them for the final. When the second round pairings were made, I was even relieved that Nigeria didn’t get them as I was sure we would be beaten!
While it might be argued that their defense on the way to the final was not up to par having conceded eight goals within that period, the attack was something else. With the lightening quick Adiyiah terrorizing defenses, there was no surprise that Ghana and the diminutive striker came out tops in the number of goals scored. I am very proud of the young man who was also voted as the best player of the competition.
The achievement of the Ghanaian junior team testifies to the saying that failing to plan is planning to fail. From the day that they came over and defeated us in the WAFU tournament, I saw a very organized and well disciplined team. They were very cohesive and played some brilliant football. It was glaring that they had something they were fighting for and they showed their determination all through.
Having won the African title on the way to Egypt, they didn’t rest on their oars. I learnt that the team played a total of 14 warm up matches before the start of the tournament proper. Any wonder they were able to compete for 120 minutes even after going one man down after just 37 minutes?
You can’t give what you don’t have. The powerful and the purposeful pattern of play of the Ghanaians remind one of the great and highly disciplined German teams of old. They gave as well as they got and were never cowed by the occasion. I was particularly impressed with the way they played against the Hungarians in the semis. Although they almost threw away a two goal advantage, the strength of character displayed to score the third goal was very telling.
Today, I join millions of other Africans all over the world to congratulate our Ghanaian brothers on this historic visit. I dare say that this is a good omen for Africa even as we march forward to next year world cup in South Africa!
Topics: Crazy Fans, The Champion, Who Will Win |
October 17th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Congratulations to our Ghanian brothers. This is a well deserved victory.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
What Nigeria failed to do, the Ghanians have done. Chikena!