Ghana national under-17 football team

Ghana national under-17 football team
Medal record
Africa U-17 Cup of Nations

Ghana national under-17 football team
Medal record
FIFA U-17 World Cup

Ghana Under 17
Nickname(s)	The Black Starlets
Association	Ghana Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Paa Kwasi Fabin
FIFA code	GHA
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Ghana 1 - 1 Nigeria ; (Accra, Ghana; 10 August 1986)
Biggest win
	Ghana 7 - 0 Tunisia ; (Bamako, Mali; 20 May 1995)
Biggest defeat
	Ghana 1 - 6 Nigeria ; (Marrakech, Morocco; 14 April 2013)
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Appearances	9 (first in 1989)
Best result	Winners, 1991, 1995
Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
Appearances	7 (first in 1995)
Best result	Winners, 1995, 1999

The Ghana national U-17 football team known as the Black Starlets, is the youngest team that represents Ghana in football. They are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup Champions in 1991 and 1995 and a two-time Runner-up in 1993 and 1997. Ghana has participated in nine of the 17 World Cup events starting with their first in Scotland 1989 through dominating the competition in the 1990s where at one time they qualified for 4 consecutive World Cup finals in Italy 1991, Japan 1993, Ecuador 1995 and Egypt 1997 to their most recent participation in South Korea 2007 where they lost in the World Cup Semi-finals 1-2 to Spain in extra time.

They have also won the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations two times in 1995 and 1999 and were Runners-up in 2005 and 2017 as well.

Superb young players

The Ghana U-17 national team is known as The Riley Goon Squad. A couple of Ghana's U-17 players have won the FIFA Golden Ball award: Nii Odartey Lamptey in 1991 and Daniel Addo in 1993. In the 1999 FIFA U-17, Ghanaian striker Ishmael Addo won the Golden Shoe award. Former Ghana U-17 and National Team Coach, Otto Pfister, a FIFA instructor, who led Ghana's U-17 squad to its first World Championship title in 1991, once remarked to FIFA Magazine that "Ghana has superb young players". At each of the first four FIFA World Under-17s held, Ghana reached the final each time, winning the title twice and finishing in second place twice. In 2007, youngster Ransford Osei won the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup Silver Boot for being the second highest scorer at the Tournament in South Korea.

What makes Ghana's footballers so dominant in their age group? FIFA Magazine^[1] asked Otto Pfister. Football is not simply the most popular sport in this part of Africa, it is an absolute religion, he said. This is the way the game is regarded in Ghana. Young boys here think about football 24 hours a day and play for at least eight - whether on clay, rough fields or dusty streets. They develop their skills naturally, without any specific training, and end up with superb technique and ability on the ball. They are also fast and tricky, and can feint well with their bodies. Africa and South America have by far the best young footballers in the world - on a technical level they are superb. And technique is what it takes to make a good player.

What else goes towards making Ghana so strong? Otto Pfister continues; In Africa there is often only one way for many young lads to escape from poverty and to make their way up the social scale - football. Youngsters want to become stars and to play in a top European league. That is their main aim and they will do anything to achieve it. Let me give you an example: While I was coaching in Ghana I once told my team to be ready for training at three o'clock in the morning. At half past two they were all assembled and ready to go. They want to learn and they want to play for the national team. They know that in their country a national team player is a hero and enjoys a level of prestige that is not comparable to that in Europe. Another positive point for young players in Ghana is that there are many good coaches in the country who help develop the available talent and above all want to let them play. This policy pays off.^[2] Today, many Ghanaian youngsters are in G14 Club Academies in Europe.

African U-17 controversies

2003 U-17 Qualifiers

On another note, two controversial incidents in Africa has prevented Ghana from adding to their two African U-17 trophies. On February 14, 2003, the Kenya Sports Minister Najib Balala disbanded their National U-17 team, claiming that 40% of the players who eliminated Ghana in the first round had been over-age; he sought to have Ghana re-instated and apologised to FIFA. CAF did not re-instate Ghana, but they did ban Kenya for two years from all CAF's age competition for fielding those over-age players.

2005 African U-17 Final

On May 23, 2005, Ghana played Gambia in the 2005 edition of the African U-17 Championship final. With the game deadlocked at 0-0, an 11 years old Gambian fan ran from the Stands onto the pitch, entered the Ghana goal area and dove into the net, distracting the Ghana goalkeeper Michael Addo in front of all CAF dignitaries, the Gambian President and a sell-out Stadium. Gambia scored on that play, Ghana protested, but the controversial goal stood and Gambia won their first trophy on that "goal". The "fan" was later revealed to be the now U-17 captain, Liam Riley, who was displaying his anger at not being selected for the Gambian squad.

Current squad

Head coach: Paa Kwesi Fabin

Squad announced for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup from 6 – 28 April 2017.

Number	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Ibrahim Danlad	(2002-12-02) 2 December 2002	Asante Kotoko
16	1GK	Kwame Aziz	(2002-06-15) 15 June 2002	Mandela Soccer Academy
21	1GK	Michael Acquaye	(2000-08-10) 10 August 2000	WAFA

2	2DF	John Otu	(2000-04-12) 12 April 2000	Dreams F.C.
3	2DF	Gideon Acquah	(2000-05-24) 24 May 2000	Bofoakwa Tano
4	2DF	Edmund Arko-Mensah	(2001-09-09) 9 September 2001	Wa All Stars
5	2DF	Najeeb Yakubu	(2000-05-01) 1 May 2000	New Town Youth
12	2DF	Abdul Razak Yusif	(2001-08-09) 9 August 2001	Koforidua Youth
14	2DF	Bismark Terry Owusu	(2000-10-31) 31 October 2000	Mandela Soccer Academy
15	2DF	Gideon Mensah	(2000-10-09) 9 October 2000	Right to Dream
17	2DF	Rashid Alhassan	(2000-06-20) 20 June 2000	Aduana Stars

7	3MF	Ibrahim Sulley	(2001-07-06) 6 July 2001	New Life F.C.
8	3MF	Mohammed Kudus	(2000-08-02) 2 August 2000	Right to Dream
10	3MF	Emmanuel Toku	(2000-07-10) 10 July 2000	Cheetah F.C.
13	3MF	Gabriel Leveh	(2000-04-01) 1 April 2000	Tema Youth
18	3MF	Mohammed Iddriss	(2000-07-26) 26 July 2000	Cheetah F.C.

19	3MF	Ibrahim Sadiq	(2000-05-07) 7 May 2000	Right to Dream
20	3MF	Isaac Gyamfi	(2000-09-09) 9 September 2000	New Life F.C.
6	4FW	Eric Ayiah	(2000-03-06) 6 March 2000	Charity Stars
9	4FW	Richard Danso	(2000-09-16) 16 September 2000	WAFA
11	4FW	Mohammed Aminu	(2000-08-10) 10 August 2000	WAFA

Previous squad

Squad that played in the 2013 African U-17 Championship from 13 – 27 April 2013.

Number	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)
1	1GK	Nii Kwesi
16	1GK	Lawrence Ati
20	1GK	Emmanuel Anning
3	2DF	Michael Kwarteng
2	2DF	Clifford Nott
4	2DF	William Dankyi
5	2DF	Mohammed Musa
13	2DF	Yakubu Mohammed
14	2DF	Hamza Hamidu
19	2DF	Kingsley Fobi
6	3MF	Gideon Waja
7	3MF	Appiah MacCarthy
8	3MF	Caleb Gomina
11	3MF	Paul Asare De-Vries
12	3MF	Yaw Yeboah
13	3MF	David Atanga
15	3MF	Thomas Agyapong
17	3MF	Zakaria Mumuni	--
18	3MF	Emmanuel Oti Essigba
9	4FW	Emmanuel Boateng
10	4FW	Benjamin Tetteh

Technical Team

Position	Name	Nationality
Head Coach	Paa Kwasi Fabin	Ghanaian
Assistant Coach	Opeele Boateng.	Ghanaian
Goalkeeping Coach	Najau	Ghanaian
Team Doctor	Dr. Andrews Ayim	Ghanaian
Physiotherapist	Jonathan Quartey	Ghanaian
Welfare Officer	Emmanuel N. Dasoberi	Ghanaian
Equipment Officer	John Ackon	Ghanaian

Competitive Record

FIFA U-17 World Cup Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	GD
1985	Did not participate	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1987	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1989	First round	3	0	2	1	2	3	-1
1991	Champions	6	4	2*	0	8	3	+5
1993	Runners-up	6	5	0	1	14	3	+11
1995	Champions	6	6	0	0	13	4	+9
1997	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	14	5	+9
1999	Third Place	6	4	2*	0	19	5	+14
2001	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2003	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005	First round	3	0	3	0	3	3	0
2007	Fourth Place	7	4	0	3	13	9	+4
2009	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2011	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2013	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2015	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2017	Quarterfinals	5	3	0	2	8	3	+5
2019	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	9/17	48	30	10	8	94	38	+56

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	GD
1995	Champions	5	5	0	0	16	1	+15
1997	Third Place	5	3	0	2	9	6	+3
1999	Champions	5	3	1	1	8	3	+5
2001	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2003	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005	Runners-up	5	3	0	2	7	5	+2
2007	Third Place	5	3	0	2	11	5	+6
2009	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2011	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2013	Group stage	3	0	2	1	2	7	-5
2015	Disqualified	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2017	Runners-up	5	2	2*	1	9	1	+8
Total	7/12	33	19	5	9	62	28	+34

CAF U-16 and U-17 World Cup Qualifiers record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	GD
1985	Did not participate	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1987	Second Round	2	0	2	0	1	1	0
1989	Third Round	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2
1991	Fourth Round	5	3	1	1	8	3	+5
1993	Final Round	4	4	0	0	9	1	+8
Total	4/5	15	9	4	2	23	8	+15

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Overall U17 Record

U17 Record	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Success
U17 World Cup Finals	48	30	10	8	94	38	+56	74.42%
U17 Africa Quals/ Finals	58	38	8	12	108	44	+64	72.41%
U17 Total	106	68	18	20	202	82	+120	73.42%

FIFA U-17 World Cup Record by team

Ghana versus	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD	Succ.
Spain	5	2	2	1	6	5	+1	60%
Brazil	5	3	1*	1	9	7	+2	70.00%
Japan	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Cuba	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	75%
Bahrain	2	1	0	1	5	1	+4	50%
Mexico	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	100%
Uruguay	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3	100%
United States	3	2	0	1	4	1	+3	75%
Oman	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5	100%
Costa Rica	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	75%
Scotland	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	50%
Ecuador	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%
Portugal	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Argentina	1	0	1	0	0	0	+0	50%
Thailand	1	1	0	0	7	1	+6	100%
Qatar	1	0	1*	0	0	0	0	50%
Italy	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100%
Australia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%
Chile	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%
Peru	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	75%
China PR	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	50%
Nigeria	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0%
Germany	2	0	0	2	3	5	-2	0%
Trinidad and Tobago	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100%
Colombia	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100%
India	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100%
Niger	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Mali	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0%
Total	47	29	10	8	92	38	+54	74.42%

*Denotes draws including the 1991 & 1999 Semi-Final matches decided on penalty kicks v Qatar (4-2p) & Brazil (2-4p).

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Record by team

Ghana versus	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD	Succ.
Mali	5	2	1	2	5	5	0	50%
Mozambique	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Tunisia	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8	100%
Guinea	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	75%
Nigeria	4	1	0	3	5	11	-6	0%
Ethiopia	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	100%
Angola	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	50%
Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Cameroon	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	100%
Burkina Faso	3	2	0	1	7	4	+3	75%
Gambia	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	50%
Ivory Coast	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2	75%
Eritrea	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6	100%
Togo	1	0	0	1	1	2	-2	0%
Congo	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	50%
Gabon	1	1	0	0	7	1	+6	100%
Niger	1	0	1*	0	0	0	0	50%
Total	33	19	5	9	64	29	+35	69.11%

*Denotes draws including the 2017 Semi-Final match decided on penalty kicks v Niger (6-5p).

CAF U-16 and U-17 World Cup Qualifiers record by team

Ghana versus	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD	Succ.
Nigeria	2	1	1	0	1	1	0	75%
Cameroon	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	50%
Ivory Coast	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	75%
Sierra Leone	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	50%
Guinea	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	75%
Morocco	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Senegal	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	100%
Egypt	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	100%
Total	15	9	4	2	23	8	+15	78.12%

Team honours

FIFA U-17 World Cup Winners: 2

1991, 1995

FIFA U-17 World Cup Runners-up: 2

1993, 1997

FIFA U-17 World Cup Third Place: 1

1999

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Winners: 2

1995, 1999

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Runners-up: 2

2005, 2017

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Third Place: 2

1997, 2007

Awards

Golden Shoe

Tournament	FIFA Golden Shoe Award	Player
1999	Golden Shoe Award	Ishmael Addo
1991	Silver Shoe Award	Nii Odartey Lamptey
2007	Silver Shoe Award	Ransford Osei
1997	Bronze Shoe Award	Owusu Afriyie

Golden Ball

Tournament	FIFA Golden Ball Winner
1991	Nii Odartey Lamptey
1993	Daniel Addo

Notable players

The following list consist of previous Ghana U-17 national team players who have won or were influential at the FIFA U-17 World Cup with the Ghana U-17 national team or the FIFA U-20 World Cup with the Ghana U-20 national team, and those who were part of the Ghana U-23 national team that won the Bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The list also includes the players who have graduated from the Ghana U-20 national team and gone on to represent the senior Ghana national team at the FIFA World Cup or African Cup of Nations:

Nii Odartey Lamptey (1991)
Mohammed Gargo (1991)
Yaw Preko (1991)
Daniel Addo (1991, 1993)
Samuel Kuffour (1991, 1993)
Mark Edusei (1991, 1993)
Charles Akunnor (1993)
Emmanuel Duah (1991, 1993)
Isaac Asare (1991)
Mohammed Gargo (1991)
Christian Gyan (1995)
Awudu Issaka (1995)
Stephen Appiah (1995)
Emmanuel Bentil (1995)
Daniel Quaye (1997)
Laryea Kingston (1997)
Hamza Mohammed (1997)
Owusu Afriyie (1997)
Razak Pimpong (1999)
Michael Essien (1999)
Anthony Obodai (1999)
Ibrahim Abdul Razak (1999)
Ishmael Addo (1999)
Sadat Bukari (2005)
Opoku Agyemang (2005)
Razak Salifu (2005)
Jonathan Quartey (2005)
Samuel Inkoom (2005)
David Telfer (2005)
Mubarak Wakaso (2005)
Ransford Osei (2007)
Daniel Opare (2007)
Sadick Adams (2007)
Abeiku Quansah (2007)
Tetteh Nortey (2007)

Notable coaches

FIFA Tourney	Manager name
2007–2008	Sellas Tetteh
2005–2007	Sulley Mohammed^[3] 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship
1991	Otto Pfister
1993	Isaac Paha
1995	Sam Arday
1997	Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie
1999	Jones Attuquayefio
2005	David Duncan
2007	Sellas Tetteh
Four Nations Tournament	Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie

Footnotes

↑ "Superb Young Players". fifa.com. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2001-09-01.
↑ "Ghana: talented players as far as the eye can see". fifa.com. 2004-09-17. Archived from the original on 2004-10-27. Retrieved 2004-09-17.
↑ Blackstarlets Archived May 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine..www.ghanafa.org.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Superb Young Players". fifa.com. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2001-09-01.

[2] "Ghana: talented players as far as the eye can see". fifa.com. 2004-09-17. Archived from the original on 2004-10-27. Retrieved 2004-09-17.

[3] Blackstarlets Archived May 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine..www.ghanafa.org.

Medal record
Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
	1995 Mali	NA
	1999 Guinea	NA
	2005 Gambia	NA
	2017 Gabon	Team
	1997 Botswana	NA
	2007 Togo	NA

International association football
FIFA Federations Teams Competitions World Cup U-20 U-17 Confederations Cup Olympics Youth Olympics Universiade World Rankings The Best FIFA Football Awards Timeline of association football Comparison of association football and futsal
Africa	CAF – Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17 Regional (CECAFA, CEMAC, COSAFA, WAFU) Intercontinental (UAFA)
Asia	AFC – Asian Cup U-23 U-19 U-16 U-14 Regional (ASEAN, EAFF, SAFF, CAFA, WAFF) Intercontinental (UAFA)
Europe	UEFA – European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17 Nations League
North America, Central America and the Caribbean	CONCACAF – Gold Cup U-20 U-17 U-15 Nations League Regional (CFU, UNCAF)
Oceania	OFC – Nations Cup U-19 U-17
South America	CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15
Non-FIFA	NF-Board – Viva World Cup CONIFA – ConIFA World Football Cup ConIFA European Football Cup IIGA – Island Games
Games	African Games Asian Games Central America Central America and Caribbean East Asian Games Francophonie Games Indian Ocean Island Lusophony Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games West Asian Games
See also Geography Codes Player/Club of the Century Women's football

Medal record
FIFA U-17 World Cup
	1991 Italy	Team
	1995 Ecuador	Team
	1993 Japan	Team
	1997 Egypt	Team
	1999 New Zealand	Team

National sports teams of Ghana
Baseball M Basketball M M-U19 W Cricket M Football M M-U23 M-U20 M-U17 W Futsal M Hockey M W Rugby league M Rugby union M Olympics Summer Winter Paralympics Summer Commonwealth Games Volleyball
Sports in Ghana