The Chairman of the Black Meteors Management Committee, Frederick Acheampong says the national U23 team must be ready to defeat any opponent at the U23 AFCON and reach the aim of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.
Ghana has been drawn into Group A along with the host nation, Morocco, Congo, and Guinea for the tournament which runs from 24th June to 8th July, 2023.
The Black Meteors will be looking to book their spot in the Olympics men’s football tournament for the first time in 19 years.
“Going into a tournament and you are paired with the host nation, most of the time that’s a difficult adventure for you. But notwithstanding, I think that we have quality players.” Frederick Acheampong told Citi Sports:
“So what is left with us to prepare adequately for the tournament.
You can’t go into a tournament with the aim of qualifying for the Olympics and starts being afraid of one team or the other.
What if you meet that particular team?
So you must be prepared to meet any other team and be able to beat the team.
So what is left of us is to prepare adequately for the tournament.
I’m sure that we should be able to achieve our objective.”
According to the CAF rules for the tournament, all players participating in the preliminary and final tournaments shall be under the age of 23 years old.
The top three teams of the U-23 AFCON shall qualify to the Olympic Games.
“Coaches have been monitoring the eligible players since we qualified.
The coaches are aware as much as we are that the aim of this particular team is to qualify for the Olympics.
And so, we want to open our net as wide as possible to make sure that all eligible players are available for the coach.”
Ghana will kick off her campaign at the U23 AFCON against Congo on June 25 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, before facing Morocco on June 27.
Ibrahim Tanko’s side is scheduled to play Guinea in their final group match on June 30 at the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier.
Egypt, Mali, Gabon and Niger are the teams in Group B.
