It’s the final of the 16th African Youth Championship, Rwanda 2009, and West African traditional bitter rivals Ghana and Cameroon will be facing each other this afternoon at Amahoro National Stadium, Kigali. Ghana were early favorites to win the 2009 AYC, and they have indeed proved their mettle as they have registered convincing wins to reach the final. However, do not discount Cameroon. They may have only been second in from group A, ironically behind today’s opponents, but they did succeed in their semifinal match against Nigeria. Ghana have expressed confidence they are on course to win a third African Youth Championship despite the colossal challenge in form of Cameroon lying and waiting ahead, will it be third time lucky for them or second title for their traditional archrivals? ‘The Black Satellites’, as Ghana’s youth team are known, beat South Africa 4-3 in a nail biting contest to qualify for the final of the African Youth Championship while Cameroon’s ‘Young Cubs’ stunned pre-tournament favourites, Nigeria 2-0. Ghana have been African U-20 champions two times – 1993 and 1999 - and expectations are high that the current team can win a third trophy this year. On the other hand, Cameroon have won it once – 1995, and will go into today’s final hoping to make it second time lucky. To win their first title in 1993, Ghana beat Cameroon 2-0 in the final, beat Nigeria 1-0 for their second African Youth Championship title in 1999, so history will very much be in their favour having gotten the edge over their regional rivals already—they seem to have the formula of beating their rivals! The Satellites have reached the AYC final on three occasions, becoming champions twice, 1993 in Mauritania and 1999 at their home soil. They were beaten 2-0 by Angola in 2001 in Ethiopia, the first time the tournament was staged on the East and Central African region. Cameroon’s Young Cubs have also been in three finals, winning the championship once in 1995 in Nigeria. They lost twice in the final against Egypt in 1981 and Ghana in 1993. There is surely no love lost between Ghana and Cameroon and having qualified from the same group, they certainly know each others’ game but this is the final and we should expect a totally different game from the one we saw on the opening day. Ghana topped group A with seven points after wins over Mali and host nation Rwanda and a draw against Cameroon while the Young Cubs finished with five points from their win over Mali and two draws against Rwanda and Ghana. A look at the Africa national U-20 football teams’ official rankings for 2008, Ghana is only second to the leading nation, Nigeria while Cameroon is a distant eighth. Yet such statistics will count for nothing when the referee blows the first whistle. Like Nigeria’s, Flying Eagles, Ghana’s Black Satellites are built around the team from the Fifa U-17 World Cup in Korea. Though it is 10 years since they (Ghana) last won this competition, expectations of another triumph have been high even before the tournament kicked off as the core of the team is from the U-17s that reached the last four of the World Cup two years ago. They have played some fine football here, actually only South Africa have probably played better football. None the less, there are no easy games at this level but they, like the Cameroonians, have grown in confidence as the tournament progressed. The midfield will be where this clash will be won and lost. The Satellites enjoy more international exposure with the likes of skipper Dede Ayew, Samuel Inkoom and Jonathan Mensah already part of their country’s full international team. However, the Young Cubs will as always parade big, powerfully built players who are not willing to concede anything on the pitch. We saw that in the semifinal against Nigeria, so count them out of wining their second title at your own risk. The Cameroonians did just enough to reach the last four by beating Mali 3-0 in their final group A match after two back-to-back draws against Ghana and Rwanda. That underlines the strong character running through their team. Their semifinal win over Nigeria reminded me of the senior Indomitable Lions, who keep fighting even for a seemingly lost cause. Battling through tough battles is what has characterized Cameroon national teams over the year, so expect nothing less this afternoon. Forwards Brice Owona and Jacques Zoua Daogari, both of whom play for their country’s leading club Cotonsport, will be two players the Ghanaian defenders will have to keep a close eye on. How well Ghana cope with the robust style of their bigger opponents will also go a long way in determining who walks away from the country of a thousand hills with the 16th African Youth Championship. Good luck to both teams, and may only the best (team) on the day win! Contact: nku78@yahoo.com
