Black Starlets miss U-17 AFCON boat after loss to Burkina Faso in WAFU B Championship
The Stallions of Burkina Faso have ended Ghana's dream of returning to the next edition of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after claiming a 2-1 victory over the Black Starlets on Saturday, May 25.
Advertisement
The Starlets missed the boat after suffering the 2-1 defeat to the Burkinabes at the University of Ghana Stadium in the semi-finals of the WAFU Zone B U17 Championship which served as qualifiers for the AFCON.
The defeat also means that Burkina Faso has ended Ghana's hopes of making an appearance at the continental showpiece in the last two attempts.
Sharpshooter Asharaf Tapsoba netted a brace to send Burkina Faso into the final as Ghana failed to cancel the two-goal deficit after Joseph Narbi scored Ghana's only goal in the 27th minute.
Tabsoba took advantage of miscommunication at the back and a goalkeeping howler by Michael Armah and fired the ball into the far top corner to register Burkina Faso's first goal.
The Ghanaians responded swiftly by dominating and connecting beautifully as well as created some scoring chances but often missed the target until the 27th minute when Narbi scored the equaliser after he was set up by Benjamin Tsivanyo.
It was always a threat when Burkina Faso got the ball but they also missed shots on target.
The two teams headed into the break with one goal apiece but three minutes after the recess, Burkina Faso were back in the lead again.
Tapsoba made a good run in between Ghana's centre-backs before he hit a low strike past Armah to make it 2-1.
Ghana later laboured in search of the equaliser but their efforts proved futile as they failed to penetrate into the box of Burkina Faso on many occasions.
At the end of the 90 minutes, Coach Laryea Kingston's side fell short in their attempts as they lost 2-1 dashing their hopes of making it to the next AFCON.