At the junior level, they are tagged as one of the best soccer models of the game that world has seen but on Sunday, Ghana's Black Starlets are faced with the stern test of securing a place for next year's African Junior Championship.
Ghana, two-time Africa and World Champions in the age competition after having won the titles in 1995 and 1999, have to overturn a 1-3 deficit to qualify for the African championship.
The Black Starlets come up against the junior national team of La Cote d?Ivoire, the Junior Elephants, in the final eliminator at the Sunyani Coronation Park tomorrow.
A win would secure Ghana a place for the finals of the African Junior Championship and Black Stars coach, Claude Le Roy, who is assisting the technical bench and team coach, Bashiru Hayford, red-carded in the Abidjan game, are expecting all hands to be on deck.
"We played our hearts out but were simply unlucky in the first leg. Nonetheless, we hope to deliver the goods this weekend,? Starlets? trainer Coach Bashiru Hayford said after a training schedule in Sunyani.
Though anticipating qualification for the Togo finals, coach Hayford is even looking beyond the championship.
?We want to do better than our predecessors by going to Togo to win the trophy for the third time before finishing off with a world conquest,? he said.
Seven out of the 14 countries in this second and final round will join host Togo in the finals of the African Junior Championship that takes place from March 11 to 25, 2007. Ghanafa
