By Ameenu Shardow
Ghana U-20 captain Lawrence Lartey feels elated after leading the side to qualify for the African Youth Championship.
The Black Satellites sealed qualification to next year's finals to be hosted by Algeria despite suffering a 3-1 defeat to Morocco on Sunday.
Ghana made it through on a 5-4 aggregate score line after beating the Atlas Cubs 4-1 in the first leg encounter a fortnight ago in Tamale.
And Lartey says he feels honoured to have led the side towards this achievement.
"I am very very happy. This is what the nation needed and we have delivered," he told GHANAsoccernet.com upon the team's arrival on Wednesday morning.
"For this I thank God, my teammates and Ghanaians for their support.
"I quite remember the criticisms we endured when we started but thankfully we have qualified for the African Cup."
Ghana will now join Nigeria, Mali, Gabon, Benin, DR Congo, Egypt and hosts Algeria in a draw for the two-grouped competition.