11 foreign-based players to beef up Satellites team

Accra, Feb. 7, GNA - The Technical handlers of Ghana's U-20 team, the Black Satellites have pieced together 11 foreign-based players to join other local ones as the team readies for next month's African Youth Championship (AYC) in Libya.

The Satellites will gather in Barcelona, Spain on March 3 for a ten-day preparation that will see them engage the youth side of the host and two other Spanish sides for fine tuning for the tourney Ghana appears as the defending champions.

Jordan Anagblah, Chairman of the Satellites Management Committee told GNA Sports in Accra on Monday that not more than 25 players will be part of the preparation that will see the selection of the 18-man squad to defend the trophy Ghana won in Rwanda in 2009.

He mentioned the players to include Jordan Ayew, Richard Boakye Yiadom, Kevin Osei, Alhassan Massawudu, Kofi Adjei, Frank Ampong, Afriyie Acquah, James Bissiu, Bright Addea, Kwame Nsow and Ebo Andoh as the foreign-based players invited.

The Satellites were originally scheduled to build up in Egypt where Ghana made history by lifting Africa's first World Youth Championship (WYC) Gold in 2009 but Mr Anagblah told GNA Sports the change in venue has been necessitated by the current political uprising in the North African country. "We planned to camp in Egypt but the situation there at the moment will not allow that. Meanwhile we have firmed up everything with Barcelona in Spain and our program will be fashioned out by the close of week.

"We will play the Barcelona youth side and two other teams within the ten days and we trust that will be good preparation before we begin our title defence." Ghana pitted in Group B alongside Nigeria, Cameroon and Gambia and will arrive in Libya three days before the commencement of the biennial fiesta.