Photo Courtesy Ghana Football Association.
Head coach of Ghana’s U-20 national team Desmond Ofei has spoken about the 2025 Africa Youth Championship draw.
The Black Satellites are paired in group A alongside hosts Ivory Coast, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and another team from the UNIFFAC Zonal Union will complete Group A.
Following the draw in Cairo, Egypt, Ofei shared his thoughts in an exclusive interview with Flashscore, admitting that being in the only five-team group could present challenges but he remains confident qualifying out of the group.
“I think we are in a very good position, and I feel like if we prepare really well, we have everything in our own hands to go as far as possible. I'm really okay with the draw.
“The only unfortunate thing for me is that we are in a group of five, so I think you have to play an extra game, which was an issue in the WAFU qualifications, where we had to play one more game than Nigeria, and we felt it in the final.
“But in this case, we are in a good position. We just have to make sure we manage the whole situation well and have a really strong bench so that when we rotate with these kinds of games, then we can have the upper hand. We can't wait for the tournament to start, because we only have one target, which is a qualification to the World Cup,” he added.
Ofei led the U-20 team to victory at the 2023 African Games and a runner-up finish at the WAFU Zone B qualifiers against Nigeria.
Desmond Ofei said: “I think this is going to be one of the most challenging and most difficult AFCONs ever. I feel like most of the teams nowadays are looking out to bring a lot of foreign players. If you're looking at Congo, I know that a lot of Belgium players are playing in that team. Morocco as well, 99% of the players are foreign players. I think we have to do our homework. We have to prepare really well.”
“Thanks to the GFA we started camp quite early so we feel like we're in a good position. We have enough time to prepare, especially from the local players. We will try to give them the opportunity first, and try to add to positions that we feel like we need from the foreign-based players.”
Ghana qualified for the U20 AFCON by reaching the final of the WAFU Zone B qualifiers in Togo last year, despite the loss to Nigeria. This marks the Black Satellites' return to the continental stage for the first time since their triumph in 2021.
The 2025 U20 AFCON is scheduled to take place in Ivory Coast from April 26th to May 16th, 2025, and will also serve as a qualifying tournament for the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile from September 27th to October 19th, 2025.
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