Ghana suffered a huge setback when they were beaten 3-1 by Uganda in the first-leg of their Africa U20 qualifier in Nakivubo on Saturday.
A rusty and unimpressive first-half display by the Black Satellites was what sealed their fate in the match played at the Nakivubo Stadium.
Uganda striker Julius Ogwang scored twice in the game to give the Ghanaians a huge mountain to climb ahead of the second-leg to be played in Accra in two weeks’ time.
But it was the Ghanaians who raced into the lead by silencing the vociferous home crowd.
The Hippos went down in the 5th minute when dangerman Micheal Anaba capitalised on Yusuf Mukisa's mistake to put the Satellites in the lead.
The Ugandans levelled matters in three minutes later through striker Julius Ogwang.
The KCC FC forward tapped in from close range after an unbelievable howler by goalkeeper Muntari Tagoe.
The Hippos then went ahead through Joseph Mpande who capitalised on the mix up in the Ghana defence to put the ball away.
Ogwang then made it 3-1 in the final minute of first half following a good pass from Gift Ali to seal the win despite a desperate second-half display by the Ghanaians.
The visitors tried to conjure up a comeback in the second period in vain as the Hippos held on to take a healthy advantage to Accra.
The former world champions have a huge mountain to climb in the second-leg as they must win by at least 2-0 to be able to qualify.
The second leg is slated for August 8- 10.
The winners over the two legs face either Morocco or Gambia for the ticket the event in Algeria next year.
Starting line-up:Â Mohammed Muntari Tagoe, Siedu Salifu, Ahmed Adams, Lawrence Lartey, Jeremiah Akorful, Mumuni Abubakar, Joseph Baffour-Gyawu, Frank Sarfo-Gyamfi, Michael Anaba-Benjamin Fadi, Jacob Appau.
Subs: Richmond Nketiah, Godfred Adofo, Daniel Amartey, Isaac Sackey, Felix Annan, Patrick Twamasi, Emmanuel Gyamfi.