Africa-Press – Ghana. Ghana’s Black Satellites secured qualification to the quarterfinals of the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after defeating the Central African Republic 1-0 at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia, Egypt.
Joseph Amankwah Opoku’s late second-half strike ensured Ghana finished top of Group C with seven points, having won two games and drawn one to secure qualification to the next round.
Defending champions Senegal also secured the second automatic qualification spot with four points after defeating DR Congo 2-0 in the other group encounter.
DR Congo, who finished third with four points, would have to wait to see if they would be among one of the best third-place teams to secure qualification to the next round.
Now for the Ghana-Central Africa Republic encounter, Coach Desmond Offei made some changes, giving starts to Andrews Adjabeng, Abdul Sulemana and Ishmael Addo.
With the absence of top marksman Jerry Afriyie, who has been recalled by his club, Aziz Musibau had a huge task to lead the Ghana attack.
The Black Satellites of Ghana started the game very well as they kept their opponents on the back foot and controlled most of the possession.
Abdul Aziz Issah came close to putting Ghana into the lead, but his curled effort outside the penalty box went off target to the relief of the Central African Republic defence.
The Central Africans ended the second half on a strong note as they forced a good save out of Ghana goalkeeper Gidios Aseako just before the referee blew his whistle for halftime.
The start of the second half was no different from the first half, as the Black Satellites maintained their dominance.
Ghana struggled to create any clear openings in the final third as they were left to shoot outside the penalty box.
After intense pressure on the Central African defence, Ghana finally broke the deadlock in the 84th minute after Amankwah dazzled through his opponents’ defence and tapped home from close range.
The Central Africans, knowing that a victory was the only way for them if they were to advance, made a late surge for victory, but Ghana’s defence stood firm as they secured all three points.
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