2019 U-23 Afcon tourney: Meteors face uphill task against Mali today
Ghana's under-23 male football team, the Black Meteors, have a last chance to rescue their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) dream when they come up against Mali in the final Group A game at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo.
With only a point from two matches played and trailing Egypt and Cameroun, the Meteors do not only need the three maximum points against Mali, but have to score more goals, while they hope that Egypt will win their last match against strong contender Cameroun in the other Group A match to help them sneak through to the next round of the competition.
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Good win
A good win of at least 2-0 will be good to see the Meteors through, hoping that the Egyptians will also win against Cameroun. However, no matter the scoreline, a draw in the other game will effectively end the campaign of the Ghanaians as Egypt will have seven points and Cameroun, five, a point more than them.
Uphill task
The Meteors shot themselves in the foot when after taking the lead against Egypt on two occasions in their second match last Monday, they allowed the Egyptians to muzzle them for the three points when they conceded in the 89th minute to lose 2-3 to the hosts.
Against fellow West Africans Mali, it will be an uphill task as the Malians themselves, though out of the competition, will want to return home with some pride after their hope of possibly picking a ticket for the 2020 Olympics was dashed with losses to Egypt (1-0) and Cameroun (1-0).
Mali at the youth level have been a thorn in the flesh of Ghana and that is not likely to change, particularly when they don’t have anything to lose and the Meteors have all to play for.
Disappointed by the result in the second game despite their good start, Coach Ibrahim Tanko remains hopeful they can bounce back to progress.
In a pre-match interview, Coach Tanko said :“We will play to win against Mali and hope for a favourable result from the Egypt match against Cameroun.”
That will be a difficult expectation as his Malian counterpart, Fanyieri Diarra, also in a pre-match interview, said they would be out to win against Ghana as consolation for their disappointing showing.
“This is football. Sometimes you do everything, but you just can’t win. We will give our best for a positive result against Ghana despite the fact that we are already disqualified. At least it will be a consolation to leave with a win,” Coach Diarra said.
Beating a wounded Malian side will be tough. Unfortunately, there is no other way out as that will be the only way for the Meteors to save their campaign and keep their dream of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics alive.
