<<Print>>

Billed as one of the two sides likely to emerge from Group A of the 12th Orange CAF U-20 African Championship, Ghana find themselves pointless and in dire need of something from their second match against Benin. The West African derby at 17h30 is one half of a what promises to be a thrilling day with a North African Derby featuring hosts Algeria against Egypt to follow at 20h30 at Ain Temouchent, Algeria on Tuesday. Benin held Algeria to a goalless draw on Saturday while Ghana despite an impressive display fell 2-1 to a solid Egypt side. � We know the margins are narrowing but we are not panicking as this group phase is all about three matches. We have had a slow start but the battle is not over yet and we face a tough Benin prepared and ready to improve on our last performance� said Ghanaian coach Sellas Tetteh ahead of the match. For his part Tetteh�s counterpart Ulrich Alohoutade said his charges were looking forward to contest against Ghana with all the pedigree and successful history of their junior team in the past, � We respect Ghana and are aware of what they have done in football but we are here to fight our own cause and we will give it a good go at winning the game for sure. A lot has been said before the tournament started but if you look at what has happened so far, it clear no-one can be sure or tell what is going to happen, so we have prepared well and will play as best as we can and see where that takes us to�. It will probably come to a battle between Benin defense and Ghanaian strike-force to decide which way the result goes. The Black Satellites showed against Egypt that creating chances is not an issue but rather converting as many as possible into a winning result is what Tetteh needs to sort out. The experienced coach and U-20 FIFA World Cup Winner with Ghana in 2009 went on to say that, they had worked on minimizing the blunders that cost them the match against Egypt. �I thought we deserved a draw from that game, but that�s football. We made a defensive mistake and they capitalized but we will learn from it and come stronger against Benin. I have been in similar situations before and even worse, the response is not to feel you have to rush but take time to do what we can do and do it well. Ghana won�t give up and we will need a bit of luck too because that too is needed in football� said Tetteh. Benin boosted by keeping out the home team strikers, had themselves a few but well- constructed chances will feel Ghana�s up for the taking. Add to it all the neighbourly rivalry this promises to be an entertaining encounter at Ain Temouchent. Benin vs Ghana kicks off at 17h30 local time in Ain Temouchent- Algeria.