WALVIS BAY – The Ghanaian under-17 football team, the Black Starlets, became the two-time champion of the Four Nations Tournament when they defeated the German Westphalia team 2-1 in the final over the weekend.
Ghana and Germany also battled for the same trophy in 2014 at Swakopmund, where Ghana won 4-2.
The tournament which saw Namibia, Ghana and Germany compete against each other started at the Kuisebmond Stadium in Walvis Bay last Wednesday.
Ghana received a floating trophy and gold medals, while Westphalia’s second place got them a trophy and silver medals.
The Namibian u17 team automatically qualified for the third place and received a trophy and bronze medals due to the South African team’s no-show.
South Africa did not pitch for the biennial tournament this year. Tournament director Roger Kambatuku told Nampa on Friday that the South Africans did not provide a reason for their failure to show up.
A Namibian u20 team was roped in to fill the gap, and on Sunday beat the u17’s 6-1.
Ghanaian striker David Cudjoe scored five goals for his team to win the earn the Top Goal scorer of the Tournament award, while his team mate Immanuel Toku won the Player of the Tournament award.
Ghana got off to a great start in the final as striker Ibrahim Sully scored the opening goal within the first five minutes of the match.
The Black Starlets continued attacking after the break with Rashiid Alhasan making it 2-0 early in the second half, before Nico Pulver scored a late consolation goal for Westphalia.
Ghanaian coach Samuel Fabian said he was happy with the outcome but will continue to push the boys to become professional players one day.
Asked what lessons Namibia can learn from Ghana, Fabian said football training should start at a young age.
He said in Ghana there are school tournaments which prepare children to play good football.
Fabian said that as such, a big pool of young players is created where the best are selected for the u17 national team and teams in higher age group categories.
“When you prepare them while they are young they are good by the time they reach the u17 level. This is what I think should be done to improve performances,” he said.
On his part, Kambatuku said the tournament exposed Namibian players to international football.
This allowed the players and coaches to learn and improve so that they can do better in the next competition.
“I am sure our players will be much better by 2018 when we participate in the same tournament,” Kambatuku said.
He said Namibia will head to Germany for the Four Nations Tournament in 2018, although it is not yet clear which other countries will participate. – Nampa
