14 April 2011
With four West African teams in Group B of the 2011 African Youth Championship, emotions are sure to run high as the regional rivalry amongst Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Gambia takes centre stage.
And with nine titles between three former winners Nigeria (5 titles), Ghana (3) and Cameroon (1) there can be little argument that, on paper at least, this is the stronger of the two groups at the tournament.
Ghanas Black Satellites are the defending U20 champions, both at continental and global level after their remarkable showings in 2009. That means that the pressure is firmly on the class of 2011 as they look to emulate their predecessors and win a fourth U20 African title for Ghana.
Coach Orlando Wellington has named a strong squad for the tournament that includes a bevy of foreign-based players. However, he has been denied the services of Jordan Ayew (another son of the legendary Abedi Pele), who was not released by his French club Olympique Marseille, as well as Italian-based duo Afriyie Acquah and Daniel Agyei.
Nigeria are the traditional powerhouses of the African Youth Championship, having won the tournament a record five times. However, the Flying Eagles have taken home the title just once (2005) in the last 22 years.
Coach John Obuh will bring a talented squad to South Africa, one that has been reinforced by the inclusion of striker Ahmed Musa, who plays his club football with VVV Venlo in the Netherlands and has already cut his teeth with Nigerias senior national team.
The talented attacker will be available for the Flying Eagles first two games of the group stage. He will then fly back to the Netherlands to be with his club, and return to take part in one of the knockout games, provided Nigeria advance beyond the group phase.
Cameroon and the Gambia are seemingly the outsiders in this group. The young Indomitable Lions have been beaten by both Egypt and hosts South Africa in recent warm-up games, but having overcome the Central African Republic and Congo in qualifying for the tournament, the Cameroonians should be competitive at the very least.
The Gambias team, known as the Darling Scorpions, have a mix of players from their local league and foreign-based players who ply their trade in a variety of countries from Iceland to Spain to the USA. However, they have been denied the services of highly-rated defender Lamin Samateh, who has not been released by his Croatian club.
The four semifinalists at the tournament will all qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup in Colombia later this year.
Group B fixtures:
18 April
Ghana v Nigeria
Cameroon v Gambia
21 April
Nigeria v Cameroon
Ghana v Gambia
24 April
