Anxiety rocks Ghana U-17 camp as coach Fabin announces final squad tomorrow

Ghana u17 players are facing anxious moments in their training camp in Abu Dhabi as coach Paa Kwesi Fabin prepares to name his final squad for the World Cup in India next month.

This comes after the Black Starlets suffered a 2-1 to Mali in their first pre-World Cup friendly at their training tour of Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night.

The game has given the coach the final idea of his final squad which is expected to be named on Thursday - the deadline date set by FIFA.

Coach Fabin gave the chance for all the 25 players in the team to play the match against the Malians with Abdul Razak Yusif, Evans Sarfo and Emmanuel Antwi as the only players who didn't play.

The Malians had to fight back to secure the victory after Ghana had dominated the early exchanges with swift passing display akin to the style of the West African giants.

The Black Starlets broke the deadlock through Eric Ayiah in the 13th minute and held unto this lead till half-time.

Upon resumption of the match, both teams made wholesale changes as Mali brought on five new players while the entire starting line up of Ghana completely change with 11 new players on the pitch.

The changes benefited the Black Starlets who dominated the game and created numerous chances including hitting the cross bar but failed to score.

Against the run of play Mali equalised through Lassana Ndiaye in the 67th minute.

The match thereafter became a very stale affair with the Ghanaian players seeking to protect their legs against the marauding Malians.

With the match heading towards a draw, deep into injury time a defensive blunder from the Starlets gifted the Malians a goal through Hadji Drame in the 94th minute sending the entire Malian bench into jubilation.

The match forms the final game before coach Paa Kwesi Fabin names his final 21-man squad for the World Cup.

More games are lined up for the Black Starlets as they seek to fine tune the side ahead of the World Cup in India next month.