Starlets ready for Cameroun battle

Coach of Ghana’s Black Starlets, Paa Kwasi Fabin, has vowed not to allow his side to surrender their 2-1 lead from the first leg when they face Cameroun on Sunday at the Accra Sports Stadium for the return leg qualifier of the 2015 African U-17 Championship.

The Starlets, twice winners of the African Championship in 1995 and 1999, head into the final qualifier with the knowledge that just a draw will see them join seven other nations including 2015 hosts, Niger.

A spot at the showpiece for African talent, which comes off between February 15 to March 1 in Niger, also provides Fabin the opportunity to redeem his image after his last appearance at the finals ended with his team not recording a single victory.

"I want to qualify the Black Starlets for the Championship”, Fabin told the GFA’s official website after the first leg at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde. 

“We hold the lead but it's not done yet. We have lots of work to do, despite winning, we still need to correct certain areas”, Fabin noted.

Fabin’s talented Starlets side were not involved in the first qualifying round and gained a walkover over their South Sudanese counterparts who pulled out of the competition.

Like the Starlets, the Indomitable Lions, who won the African Championship for the first time in 2003 also enjoyed a walkover in the first round of the qualifiers against the Central African Republic after which they defeated Burkina Faso 2-0 on aggregate before booking a date against the Ghanaians. 

The former Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak trainer is, however, not expecting an easy tie and has predicted that the Camerounian’s will come out fighting.

"We expect them [Cameroon] to come fighting. They will be aggressive and we cannot sit back”, he stressed.

The African U-17 Championship has been the breeding ground for some of Africa’s biggest football talents including Jay Jay Okocha and Michael Essien, and come Sunday young Asokwa Deportivo forward, Abass Issa of the Starlets and Cameroun captain Martin Hongla will do battle to follow in their illustrious footsteps.