The national U-23 team, the Black Meteors, is getting ready to play Mozambique in the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations second-round qualifier.
Mozambique will host the first leg from October 20–23, and the Cape Coast stadium will hold the second match from October 28–30, 2022.
The team’s preparation at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence was highlighted by head coach Ibrahim Tanko in an interview with ghanafa.org.
After defeating Dreams FC 2-1 in a similar contest at the Accra Sports stadium on Wednesday, the Black Meteors will take on Premier League team Accra Lions on Saturday.
Speaking on failing to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, coach Ibrahim Tanko said; “We missed out on the opportunity to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, but we still have a chance, so we’re working as hard as we can to earn a spot at the Africa U-23 Championship and ultimately the Olympics,”
“The Normalisation caused a lot of issues when we first started, but I believe that now that we have an FA in place, we will hopefully have all the support we require to do everything in our power to qualify the team for the Olympics,”
On getting the full complement of the team for the preparation ahead of the qualifies, he said “With the league on pause, we have all the players for training and are doing everything we can to qualify. We have almost three weeks left and have been in camp for the last two,”
“From October 21–23, we will be playing Mozambique away, and we are hopeful that by then, we will have a strong team to field. Although we are aware that it won’t be simple, we sincerely believe that our efforts will pay off and that we will be accepted. There is no injury, but we are still awaiting the arrival of Danlad Ibrahim and other players. Everyone is now working out hard,”
Coach Ibrahim Tanko added that they have been camping for approximately two weeks, and the match against Dreams was their first competitive game.
“Although we prevailed 2:1, there is undoubtedly space for growth. To align our team for the work ahead and as we get ready to play the Accra Lions, we’ll improve on this performance,”
In June 2023, Morocco will host the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations for the fourth time.
