WAFU teams won't find it easy

at AYC in Rwanda, Ghana's coach, Tetteh confesses

FORMER NEPA and Julius Berger of Lagos player, Sellas Tetteh, was a key component of the Ratomir Djukovic-led technical crew when Ghana's Black Stars qualified for their maiden World Cup appearance in 2006. He also led the Black Starlets to fourth place at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup in South Korea. He was later appointed chief coach of the Under-20 Black Satellites where he qualified the team for next month's African Youth Championship (AYC) in Rwanda. At the maiden WAFU Under-20 Cup hosted by Nigeria recently, Tetteh came to Delta State with 18 home-based players and carted home the ultimate prize after beating Senegal 3-2 on penalties. Scores stood at 1-1 in regulation time.

He told OLALEKAN OKUSAN at the Oghara Township Stadium that winning the trophy would serve as an elixir to his team in Rwanda even as he stressed that West African teams would have to redouble their efforts at the tourney.

COACH Sellas Tetteh is one of Ghana's indigenous coaches that have continued to make their marks in football at continental and global levels. An ex-player who at some point played for NEPA FC and Julius Berger of Lagos, he was also part of the coaching crew that qualified Black Stars for her maiden appearance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. His pedigree in youth football prompted the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to appoint him manager of the Black Starlets, which came fourth at the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Korea.

After the Korea expedition, as a way of ensuring continuity and facilitating smooth transition from one cadet team to others on the top rung, he was drafted to tinker the Under-20 national team, the Black Satellites and qualify them for the Africa Youth Championship (AYC) holding in Kigali, Rwanda. Throughout the AYC qualifiers, Tetteh's team lost only a game away to Angola.

At the maiden WAFU Under-20 Cup, Tetteh, as if to show that the AYC qualifiers was no fluke, picked 18 home-based players. The team won all six games to emerge champion of the tournament. But despite finishing tops, he says winning the WAFU Cup does not in any assure them of a smooth ride in Kigali.

His words: "I think West African teams have good chances in Rwanda. Even though Nigeria was eliminated at the quarterfinal of the competition, I think that exit will serve as a wake up call for them, so we should never write Nigeria off. They are always strong and they have several foreign-based players.

Sometimes when failure comes, it simply tells you to redouble your efforts. Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana are both strong contenders for the title in Rwanda. But I think it is going to be difficult as our main aim in Rwanda is to qualify for the World Youth Championship (WYC) taking place in Egypt in 2009. After this, we will then go for the ultimate, which is winning the WYC.

Taking a look at the commencement of the WAFU tourney, he said: "At the beginning of the championship, things were a bit foggy but as the tourney progressed, the picture was getting clearer and the competition was getting tougher and tougher. We won our first four matches easily while our last two matches were very tough. I think the championship was a very good platform for teams going to Rwanda because they have gained lots of confidence."

"I must also confess that we did not come here with the intention of winning the championship. However, I must also admit that the tournament has been a very good platform for us to re-launch ourselves, and even players that were hitherto unknown have been made famous. This was really an opportunity for them to express themselves, and it has been properly utilized. We know Rwanda is going to be difficult than this. We will try to bring in our foreign components so that we can merge them to be able to pick the best for the AYC.

"Personally, I believe in what I see, so having worked with local players, I have confidence in them as I'm yet to see the foreign-based players until they come. Accepted they were good before the left our shores, but when they come back, we will look at them critically and see what they have to offer, and from there we can pick the best for the country. Individually, we have good players, but it is compact team play that is lacking in the team. That is why it is difficult to say that certain players that featured in the WAFU Cup will make the team to Rwanda. But let us wait for the foreign-based ones to come. Then I can confidently mention the players that will make the team. Every player would have to justify his place in the squad.

Taking a look at the Group A pairing of the AYC which pitches his country against, Mali, Cameroun and host, Rwanda, Tetteh admitted that they face a tough a daunting task. Ghana will kick off the two-week long tournament playing their first match against Cameroun at the Stade National in Kigali on January 18. Nigeria is drawn in Group B alongside South Africa, Egypt and Cote d'Ivoire.

The CAF organized AYC is a major international football competition for African teams, played by less than 20 years old players and it is held every two years with the four semi-finalists from the tournament qualifying for the FIFA World Youth Championship to be played in Egypt. __If hosts Egypt reach the last four in Rwanda, then the 5th place team will qualify for the Under-20 World Cup.