FIFA U-17 World Cup: Give Ayiah a break – Fabin tells critics

Head coach of Ghana’s Black Starlets, Samuel Paa Kwesi Fabin has called on supporters to tone down on what he describes as ‘over the top’ criticism of his captain, Eric Ayiah at the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

The striker has made a substantial impact at the U-17 World Cup in India, scoring 3 goals in 4 games for Ghana.

However, Ayiah’s profligacy in front of goal has not gone unnoticed to Ghanaians, some of whom have taken to social media to criticize the youngster and this is a big worry to his coach, Paa Kwesi Fabin.

Ayiah failed to score in Ghana’s opening two games but he came alive in the last Group game against India and scored twice. He was also on target in the Round of 16 clash against Niger despite missing a penalty in the same game.

The Starlets captain is only two goals adrift of the current top scorer of the tournament, Amine Gouiri.

The Ghana coach who is aware that his skipper is not the finish article yet say, the criticism is becoming a tad too much.

“What do they know about him to criticize him, he is our skipper and he is doing well,” Fabin told starrsportsgh.com after the Starlets game against Niger in Mumbai.

He added: “What do they want him to do again, the guy has scored three goals and is doing very well, I don’t even know what else they want from him.”

Eric Ayiah will lead the Black Starlets again when they meet in Mali in the quarter-final stage of the competition on Saturday morning.