Paa Kwesi Fabin Confident Of A Good Start Against Burkina Faso

Coach of Ghana’s U-17 boys’ national team, Paa Kwesi Fabin is optimistic of a good result against Burkina Faso in their first leg second round 2017 African Championship qualifier.

The Black Starlets will host their counterparts from the north of the boarder at the newly constructed Cape Coast Stadium on Sunday with the return fixture set to be played in Ouagadougou after a fortnight.

And as Ghana seeks to advance to the third and final round of qualifiers to the event in Madagascar next year, Coach Fabin believes his charges will rise to the occasion and produce a good first leg result at home.

Taking a huge advantage into the return encounter in Burkina Faso is high on the mind of the Ghanaian helmsman and, he has expressed optimism that that would happen.

“We need to make a strong case for the next game away, and, we will strive to make the most of our home advantage in Sunday’s game”, Coach Fabin said.

He admits that it will not be an easy encounter, but, retain hopes that the Black Starlets will leave up to the challenge and produce the result that would make the return encounter a less difficult task.

Ghana advanced to this stage of the qualifiers after Liberia withdrew from the first round tie with Burkina Faso also drawing bye in the previous round.

The winner of this two legged fixture, will face the winner of the Benin/Ivory Coast encounter in the last qualifying round for a place at next year’s African U-17 Championship in Madagascar where the top four teams will qualify to represent the continent at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

Paa Kwesi Fabin Confident Of A Good Start Against Burkina Faso

African U-17 Thrills This Weekend

The race to make it to the next edition of the Africa U-17 Football Championships continues this weekend with matches across the length and breadth of the continent.

Seven nations will eventually make it to the championships to be hosted for the first time by the island nation of Madagascar next year.

Former winners Ghana will be home to their neighbours north of the boarder, Burkina Faso in a first leg second round tie that is expected to be fiercely contested.

The game is set to be played at the newly built Cape Coast Stadium along the western coast of the country with the return fixture to be played in Ouagadougou.

Benin will host the Ivory Coast in Cotonou for their first leg tie with the second leg set to be played in the Ivorian commercial capital of Abidjan.

Powerhouse, Nigeria plays the first leg of their encounter with neighbors Niger at home before trekking to Niamey for the return fixture.

North African giants, Algeria hosts Gabon at home first with the return encounter set to come off in the Central African country.

Chad and the Republic of Mali will contest the first leg tie in Ndjamena before the return encounter is played in Bamako to determine who goes through to the next round.

Egypt will welcome Ethiopia to Cairo for the first leg tie with the East Africans set to host the reverse fixture in Addis Ababa.

Tunisia plays Senegal at home first before traveling to Dakar for the second leg tie; Guinea will also be at home first to Morocco with the return fixture coming off in the North African country.

In other first leg ties, Zambia will host Sudan; Cameroon plays Kenya; South Africa host Tanzania; Namibia entertain Congo; Mauritius plays Angola with the Islanders of Comoros hosting Mozambique.

 

African U-17 Thrills This Weekend

U-17 Is For Future Not Now - Fabin

Ghana national U-17  head coach, Paa Kwesi Fabin has played down expectations that the Black Starlets team being put together should win trophies for the country.

The Black Starlets were a force to reckon with in the youth tournaments both in Africa and in the world, winning the Under-17 World Cup trophy in 1991 and 1995, but has since gone blank in the subsequent competitions.

But  the former Hearts of Oak coach Fabin, who is yet to lead Ghana to a world youth championship after failing to guide the Black Starlets past the group stage of the 2013 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations, says building a youth team purposely to groom them for the future, and that winning trophies is a bonus.

“You see people say we want trophies. Yes, the reason why this Under-17 team was brought about was to get people to graduate to the next level and not necessarily for trophies but along the line if we are able to win a trophy, that’s all well and good,” Fabin told Starr FM.

“Definitely at the back of my mind I am looking at working hard, getting to that level and then probably winning that trophy before I quit but I must confess it is not my priority.”

Paa Kwesi Fabin recently completed a nationwide tour for talents and has also named 40 from theAirtel Rising Stars to build a final team for th 2017 Africa Youth Championship in Madagascar.

Ghana was drawn against Liberia in the preliminary phase of the qualifiers. The fixture will be played between 24 and 26 June and  the return encounter will be played between July 1 and 3.

U-17 Is For Future Not Now - Fabin