Ghana U-20 coach delivers camp update for Wafu Cup

Ghana U20 coach Abdul Karim Zito has stated the output of players in camp has not been up as expected due to their long period of inactivity.

Last month, the trainer called up a first batch of 70 players for a pre-selection camp exercise at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Technical Centre in Prampram as part of preparations for the 2020 Wafu Zone B Cup of Nations slated for Togo in November.

Owing to a national suspension of all contact sports, including football, since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, all divisions of club competitions, including the Ghana Premier League, have been at a standstill, denying the players game action for five months.

The male U20 side, like the women's U17 and U20 teams, is training under special permission from Ghana president Nana Akufo-Addo due to upcoming international assignments.

"So far so good. These boys were scouted during the Division One League and the Premier Division time and so you could see that their conditioning dropped," Zito said, as reported by the GFA's official website.

"What we are doing as a technical team is to raise their conditioning a bit and then we can properly access the talent we want in camp currently.

"We scouted them using four basic criteria that is talent, awareness, physique and mental strength to help us know what to actually expect.

"In camp, they have played among themselves for us to see their talent but after this, we are planning to help raise their level of awareness, physique and mental strength."

After time with the first batch, Zito has again invited a second group of 70 players for camping, starting from Sunday.

"After going through the various processes, the selected players will remain in camp and those who do not make the mark will leave by Saturday," the coach added.

"That wouldn’t be the end for those players because they still have a chance and the team manager will monitor them for future call-ups."

The Wafu Zone B Cup will serve as qualifiers for the 2021 Africa U20 Cup of Nations (Afcon) as the top two teams in Togo will be rewarded with qualification tickets.

The top four sides at the African championship in Tanzania will also qualify for the World Cup in Indonesia later next year.