The Ghana U-20 men’s football team, the Black Satellites of Ghana have recorded their first victory in the ongoing 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament in France after beating Saudi Arabia by 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon.
The Black Satellites have been struggling to win a match in the tournament since the start, having lost to Mexico (1-0), Indonesia (1-0) before losing to Venezuela 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in regulation time. Coach Abudul Karim Zito’s side finished bottom of Group B and had to settle for a classification match against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Coming from defeats in their first three matches, the Satellites had nothing less in mind than to win against Saudi Arabia, and they have succeeded this time to put some smiles on the faces of Ghanaians.
Ghana started the game on a brighter note as they pressed the Saudis into their own area while searching for the opener. Their efforts paid off finally when Isaac Mensah broke the deadlock in the 27th minute to put Ghana in the lead at the Stade Fernand-Founier in Marseille. However, Saudi Arabia came into the came strongly looking for the equalizer, and the Black Satellites failed to keep their attackers off.
Saudi Arabia finally found the back of the net for the equalizer in the 71st minute through Yazid Joshan strike to restore parity. All hopes seemed lost for the Black Satellites as a fourth defeat stared at their faces. A resilient fight for the crucial winner finally paid off in the 88th minute when Samari Salifu emerged with a great finish to restore the lead for Ghana.
Both teams failed to score again as the referee blew for the end of the game after the full 90 minutes with Ghana grabbing their first win in four matches at the tournament in France.
