U-23 AFCON: Black Meteors to start camping ahead of Egypt tour
The national U-23 team will begin preparing for the upcoming continental championship in Morocco with non-residential camping next week by home-based players and will be joined later by their foreign-based teammates in the first week of June when the European season comes to an end.
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A member of the Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Fredrick Acheampong, disclosed to the Graphic Sports that the FA was under obligation to provide the right atmosphere and logistics for preparation after instructing the Meteors technical handlers to ensure Ghana excelled at the U-23 African Championship and also qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Meteors qualified for the June 24—July 8 tournament after defeating Algeria in the qualifiers. They have been pooled with hosts Morocco, Congo and Guinea in Group A.
“For the non-residential camping, we will start with the local component of the players in the last quarter of this month because all the foreign-based players are engaged with their clubs, so they will join the team after the break of their league,” he explained the Meteors’ build-up to the championship.
Mr Acheampong hinted that after their local camping, the team would travel to Egypt where they would play series of friendly internationals as part of their pre-tournament campaign to enhance their combat readiness.
“In Egypt, we are arranging a series of friendly matches for the team. We have started discussions with the Egyptian authorities, and with this, we will play some friendly matches before we get to the tournament. All these are being done with the aim of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games. That is why we need to top our group to play in the semi-finals and strive to book a place in the elite stage,” he added.
On players pencilled for the tournament, he said invitation for the tournament depended solely on the plans of the head coach, Ibrahim Tanko, and players who best suited his game plan.
He indicated that the FA had already met with the head coach to plan the preparation and ensure that the Meteors put their best foot forward at the Morocco tourney, especially with qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time since the Athens 2004 Games.
“We have already had a meeting with him to fine-tune the programme, so until the list of players get to us, we cannot envisage which players will make it. All depends on the Head coach and his technical team.”
On Ghana’s chances against group rivals, Morocco, Guinea and Congo, Mr Acheampong said it was only when Ghana qualified from such a tough group and made it to the Olympics that the world would acknowledge the team’s greatness
“If we fail to beat them and top our group, then we are not fit to participate in the Olympic Games, so in a group with the hosts, Guinea and Congo, we acknowledge that it is a tough group. But we are also aware that we need to prepare well to top such a tough group.”
He admitted that with Ghanaians yearning to see the Meteors at the Paris Olympics, the GFA was also not leaving any stone unturned to ensure success at the U-23 Cup of Nations, especially after the team performed poorly at the last continental competition in Egypt in 2019 and failed to pick a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
