Ghana Black Meteors line-up two friendlies against South Korea

Ghana's U-23 side, the Black Meteors will play South Korea's men's Olympic football team in two friendlies in the Asian country next month, Ghanasoccernet.com can exclusively reveal.

The revelation is a massive boost for the Black Meteors who have now secured four matches in line with the GFA’s transitional policy even though they will not be playing at the Olympics.

The Koreans have reached an agreement with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to host the Black Metoers twice next month for tune-up matches ahead of the Tokyo Summer Games.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) has confirmed to Ghana's leading football news outlet that the two matches will be played next month and will be hosted by the inviting country.

The two countries will clash on 12 June at 7pm local time in Korea while the second game will take place three days later on June 15 at 8pm local time.

Both matches will be played at Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo, Jeju Island.

The match will serve as preparation for South Korea who will face an African side at the Olympic Games in Japan.

The two matches aganist Ghana will be the first official matches for South Korea's under-23 Olympic team since November last year, when they faced Egypt and Brazil in a friendly tournament in Egypt.

Ghana's coach, Paa Kwesi Fabin has already named his squad for a pre-arranged friendly against Japan and they will double up with the two matches against South Korea.

The Black Meteors' 27-man squad will begin camping later this month to prepare for the friendly games against their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on June 4 and June 8.

Head coach Kim Hak-bum will announce his roster next Monday and open training camp in Seogwipo on May 31, the KFA added. These matches will likely be the final chances for players to make an impression on Kim before the coach sets his 18-man roster.

The Olympic men's football tournament is open to players under age 23, but teams are each allowed to select up to three players over that age limit.

South Korea won the Asian qualifying tournament in January last year.

They have been paired with New Zealand, Honduras and Romania at the Olympics. South Korea's best Olympic performance to date is the bronze medal at the 2012 London Games.

Ghana just missed out on qualifying out of Africa, finishing fourth behind Egypt, Cote d'Ivoire and South Africa at the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.

The KFA said Ghana will visit Japan for a tuneup match before arriving in South Korea, and their players, coaches and staff will undergo COVID-19 testing immediately upon arrival.

Strict health and safety protocols will be in place during their stay.