Coach Abdul Karim Zito is team is poised to defend their WAFU-B U20 Championship title and gain qualification to the 2023 African U20 Cup of Nations.
The Black Satellites were champions of the last edition of the sub-regional competition and went on to lift the 2021 African U20 Cup of Nations.
Coach Zito believes his side has what it takes to defy the unfavourable weather conditions in Niamey and achieve their targets for the competition.
“We are trying to cope with the weather condition which is hotter than we expected. Nonetheless, we are trying to adapt to it and are for the comeptition”.
“I have been here previously for about a year so I knew what to expect around this time of the year but am happy since we got here the players have shown signs of adapting to the weather conditions”, Coach Zito told ghanafa.org.
The Head Coach of the side also explained that though he got to spend more time with the previous squad, his current team is more flexible.
“With the previous squad, the league had been halted due to Covid so I got to spend more time with the players in camp but now the league is ongoing so after training the players return to their clubs to honour the league matches before they returning to camp. However, I believe that in terms of flexibility the current squad is more flexible”, Coach Zito intimated.
On Sunday’s opponent’s Coach Zito remains confident that his side has what it takes to come out victorious against the Nigerians though they arrived in Niger a week ahead.
“Nigeria began camping for this tournament four days after we stated in Prampram. They got here earlier and have played two friendlies against Niger but we are poised to qualify to the AFCON “, he said.
Ghana’s opening game is scheduled to kick off at 17:00(4pmGMT) at the Stade de Général-Seyni-Kountché.
The Black Satellites will then face Burkina Faso in the next group game on Saturday, May 14 at the same venue.
Watch our a video recording of our interview with coach Abdul Karim Zito on our youtube page.
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