U 20 Ghana, Nigeria in same Group

No matter what, the African Under-20 Nations Cup draw was always going to be a tough one for hosts, Ethiopia. Cameroon will have the honour of playing Ethiopia in the opening match in Addis Ababa on March 18, while a clash with former champions Egypt and 1997 runner-up, South Africa are also in the schedule for the hosts.

Title holders, Ghana will begin the defence of their title against Angola or Burkina Faso, which will be decided today. The Ghanaians will later play five time champions Nigeria and last year's bronze medalists at the World Cup finals, Mali in the same group.

Arch-rivals Nigeria and Ghana will set the tournament alight March 22 in Addis Ababa with a crucial second group match. Ghana defeated Nigeria 1-0 to win the title in Accra last year. Both sides are favourites to qualify for the semi-finals and the World Championship, but Mali, one of the strongest African sides at this level, could also cause an upset.

Two teams from each group will automatically qualify for, not only the semi-finals, but also the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina. Ethiopia are clearly one of the underdogs, but both groups are well balanced and it would be risky to speculate which sides will play the final on April 1 in Addis Ababa, or which are the four who will represent Africa in Argentina.

After the draw, held by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Accra on Saturday, the coach of Ghana, Emmanuel Afranie said the Black Satellites' group, B, is a renewal of rivalries. "We know Nigeria quite well and Mali, the sides we played when we staged the competition last year. If Angola qualify, we have played them before, so I am optimistic of our chances to defend our title."

Burkina Faso, who should host the 2003 Under-20 finals, will play Angola today in Ouagadougou in a delayed final round qualifying match for the tournament. Angola won the first-leg in Luanda 2-0 and are tipped to go through. But the Burkinabes will hope to qualify for the first time, and gain some experience before they are ready to stage the finals in two years later.