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| African U17 round-up |
3/12/2007 |
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Ghana overcame Burkina Faso 3-1 on Sunday in the first Group B clash of the African Under-17 Championship in Togo.
Ghana took the lead after just five minutes through a free-kick strike from Ransford Osei before Yartey Ishmael gave his side a two-goal cushion on 30 minutes.
Ishmael scored his second came on 54 minutes after he capitalised on a goalmouth scramble.
Mousse Traore scored Burkina Faso''s consolation 64 minutes into the match.
"We had a game plan which we didn''t follow - if we had stuck to the plan, we would have won by more," Ghana coach Fred Osam-Duodu told BBC Sport.
Later in the day, Nigeria thrashed Eritrea 8-0 in a one-sided encounter in Kegue to top the group.
Only three minutes had elapsed when Haruna Lukman opened the scoring with a penalty.
The Nigerians tormented the Eritreans with their deadly attacking trio of Lukman, Ibrahim Rabiu and Chrisanthus Macaulley firing on all cylinders.
Rabiu scored the Nigerians'' second in the 10th minute while Macaulley increased the Eritreans'' sorrows firing home in the 26th minute.
Before the break, both Rabiu and Macaulley scored their second goals of the match respectively to give Nigeria a 5-0 lead at half-time.
Twenty minutes into the second period, Macaulley completed his hat-trick and Eritrea held on for another thirteen minutes before Raphael Ademula added his name to the scoresheet.
In the dying moments, Akinsola Kabiru completed the goal harvest with a solo effort as sympathetic Togolese spectators begged the Nigerians to stop the humiliating massacre.
On Saturday, Togo beat South Africa 2-0 in Group A in the opening match of the championship.
Togo''s Abraw Camaldine struck home after a goalmouth scramble in the 56th minute.
Atakora Lamawele then broke through the South African defence and shot through the legs of the goalkeeper to seal the victory for the Togolese.
The Young Hawks go top of the group after Gabon drew 0-0 with Tunisia in the second game of the day.
Captain of the Togolese team, Awounyo Papa Koami, was pleased with the performance.
"We followed the instructions of the coach at half-time and then played well to win the game.
"I am confident we will win our next match if we play the same way," Koami said.
All four semi-finalists of the competition will go through to the Fifa Under-17 tournament that will be held in South Korea in June.
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