Ghana, South Africa On the Brink on qualification for Africa U17 Championship

Published on: 14 September 2014
Ghana, South Africa On the Brink on qualification for Africa U17 Championship
Black Starlets beat Cameroon in Yaounde on Saturday

Ghana and South Africa are in pole position to reach the finals of the African U-17 Championship Niger 2015 after claiming victories in the final round first leg qualifiers on Saturday.

Whilst Ghana's Black Starlets were 2-1 winners away over the 'Les Lions Cadets' of Cameroon in Yaounde, the Amajibos of South Africa accounted for the Young Pharaohs of Egypt by a similar scoreline in Rustenburg.

Avoiding defeats in the second leg matches in a fortnight will hand the duo places for next year's eight nation tournament.

The Starlets, playing for the first time in the campaign following the withdrawal of their opponents at the previous rounds dominated their hosts and deservingly edged them in front of their fans.

On the half-hour mark, the Ghanaians went up through Ernest Agyiri before Issa Abbas scored the second on 40 minutes.

On the stroke of half time, Martin Hongla reduced the deficit with a long range effort that beat Ghana goalie Benjamin Asiedu. However, the Ghanaians held on to cruise to crucial victory.

In Rustenburg, Reeve Frosler broke the deadlock early in the game for the Amajimbos and Walid Attia Mourad restored parity for the Young Pharaohs just before the break. SuperSport United forward Nelson Maluleke scored the winner later in the second half.

At the Coqueiros Stadium in Luanda, Angola were held to a 1-1 draw by Cote d'Ivoire setting the stage for a crunch affair in the return leg.

Kofi Frank Kouao opened the scores for the Ivorians on 77 minutes before Nelson Da Luz equalized for the hosts a minute later.

The remaining fixtures will be played on Sunday between Gabon - Nigeria in Libreville, Guinea - Togo in Casablanca and Mali - Tunisia in Bamako.

The second leg will now take place in Egypt in two weeks with the overall winners qualifying for the finals in Niger in March next year.

The winner will qualify for the final tournament scheduled for 15 February - 1 March next year in Niger.

The semi-finalists at the continental championship will represent Africa at the FIFA U-17 World Cup fixed for 17 October - 8 November in Chile.

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