Peruvians celebrate drawn match against Starlets

(From Caesar Abagali, GNA Special Correspondent, Trujillo, Peru) Courtesy: Pure Joy Fruit Juice

Trujillo, September 17, GNA - Peruvian soccer fans who packed the Trujillo Sports Stadium to witness their country's one all drawn match of the opening Group A of the FIFA World Under-17 Championship with Ghana's Black Starlets have expressed their satisfaction with the end result.

The Peruvians applauded their young side minutes after the final whistle for holding their own against one of the pre-tournament favourites.

The Black Starlets who had to play most part of the match with 10 men, fought from a goal down in the first half to earn a draw after a hard pressed Peruvian defender forced a cross from Opoku Agyeman into his own net.

Black Starlets who went into the game as the favourites were just settling into their rhythm when Belgian referee, Frank De Bleeckere harshly sent off Wakaso Mubarak for a tackle on a Peruvian attacker in the 10th minute.

Worse was to come for the Ghanaians moments later when a penalty was awarded against them after goalkeeper Nana Bonsu was adjudged to have brought down Jesus Fey in a failed attempt to catch the ball off the foot of the striker.

Daniel Chavez neatly converted the resultant kick in the 12th minute to give the Peruvians a boosting lead.

With their game thrown out of gear with a goal down and a man short, the Starlets regrouped and started pushing up forward the equaliser, which never came their way till the break. The Starlets came into the second half reenergized and though they did all to pull even, the goal proved illusive until the 60th minute when a hard pressed Peruvian defender deflected a cross from Agyeman into his own net.

Though the Peruvians mounted a last minute onslaught to get the match winner, the Ghanaians remained unyielding to eventually split the points.

After the match, the Peruvians supporters poured unto the streets of the city to celebrate the performance of their team. Some fans who spoke to the GNA Sports said that they never thought they could earn a point from the match, considering Ghana's status as one of the pre-tournament favourites and that they had been lucky that Ghana lost a player earlier in the game.

Luis Iparraguirre, a photo Journalist said if Ghana had played with a full set they could have spanked Peru.

Earlier China and Costa Rica also settled for a 1-1 drawn game on the same venue.

In Group B in Lima, Mexico beat Uruguay 2- 0 while Turkey also beat Australia 1-0.