History
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, after Ghana placed third during the competition, being led by Cecil Jones Attuquayefio and assistant James Kuuku Dadzie. [4] [5] 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 [6] 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. [7] Today, many Ghanaian youngsters are in G14 Club Academies in Europe.
The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The current champion is Germany, which won its first title at the 2023 tournament.
Samuel Osei Kuffour is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Nana Otto Addo is a Ghanaian football manager and former player. He was recently the manager of the Ghana national football team, and works as a talent coach for Borussia Dortmund.
Otto Martin Pfister is a German football manager and one of Germany's most successful coaching exports, voted Africa's Manager of the Year in 1992. He is formerly the manager of the Afghanistan national team.
Frederick Osam-Duodu was a Ghanaian coach and a FIFA Instructor. Osam Duodu served as Ghana national football team.
Association football is the most popular sport in Ghana. Since 1957, the sport has been administered by the Ghana Football Association. Internationally, Ghana is represented by the male Black Stars and the female Black Queens. The top male domestic football league in Ghana is the Ghana Premier League, and the top female domestic football league in Ghana is the Ghana Women's Football League.
Ransford Osei is a Ghanaian former professional footballer, who last played as a striker for Lithuanian club Palanga.
The Nigeria national U-17 football team known as the Golden Eaglets, is the youngest team that represents Nigeria in football The team is the most successful in international football for their age group winning a record, five FIFA U-17 World Cup titles and are runners up on three occasions. They are also two-time Africa U-17 Cup of Nations champions with their most recent title at the 2007 edition.
Ghana national U-20 football team known as the Black Satellites, is considered to be the feeder team for the Ghana national football team. They are the former FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions and African Youth Champions. They have also been a four-time African Champion in 1995, 1999, 2009, 2021 and a two-time Runner-up at the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1993, 2001 and finished third in 2013. Ghana has participated in only six of the past 19 World Cup events starting with their first in Australia 1993 where they lost the World Cup final 1-2 to Brazil in Sydney and in Argentina 2001 where they lost the World Cup final 0-3 to Argentina in Buenos Aires. Incredibly, in 32 FIFA World Cup matches, Ghana has not lost a game in regulation below the Semi Final level of the FIFA U20 World Cup. They however failed to qualify for 3 consecutive events in UAE 2003, Netherlands 2005 and Canada 2007 until they made the Egypt 2009 Tournament.
Daniel Tawiah Opare is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a right-back.
Daniel Addo is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who last played for King Faisal Babes as a midfielder.
Ishmael Addo is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is best known for his accomplishments during his career at Ghanaian side Hearts of Oak, but has also spent several years in France, Israel, Greece, Cyprus and India. A diminutive striker with an exceptional turn of pace, Addo's ability to score goals and demoralise the opposition has led to him earning the nickname "baby-faced assassin". Holding the record of overall top scorer in the history of the Ghanaian League, he is considered to be one of the most talented strikers ever to grace the competition. At some point during his career, Addo was named in FIFA's top 100 prospects.
International Allies FC is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Tema, Greater Accra. They play in the Ghana Premier League.
The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, known for short as the U-20 AFCON and for sponsorship purposes as TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, previously known as the African Youth Championship and the African U-20 Championship, is the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its nations consisting of players under the age of 20. It serves as the African qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The 2012 African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament was the 3rd edition of the African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, the biennial international youth football competition organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to determine which women's under-17 national teams from Africa qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
Gambia national under-20 football team is the U-20 football team of the Gambia and is controlled by the Gambia Football Federation. It serves as the youth team and feeder team of the Gambia national football team. They are nicknamed The Young Scorpions.
The 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, officially known as the Total U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations, Gabon 2017, was the 12th edition of the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 17 and below.
Elizabeth Addo is a Ghanaian football forward who have played for Saudi Women's Premier League club Al Hilal. She is also the captain of the Ghana women's national football team.
Samuel Paa Kwesi Fabin is a Ghanaian professional football manager. He is the current coach of the Ghana national U-23 team. He is a former coach Ghana Premier League teams; Asante Kotoko, Accra Hearts of Oak and Aduana Stars He previously coached the Ghana national U-17 team leading them to 2nd place in the 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Joseph Ansah is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Accra Hearts of Oak for most of his career. He also played for the Ghana national football team.
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Ignatius Osei-Fosu 
