Published: The Daily Graphic 12/7/2012

Story: Garth Dmyterko

Ghana faces Egypt today at 3 pm at the Accra Sports Stadium in the final game of the three nations U-20 Tournament.

Following the resignation of head coach Orlando Wellington on Tuesday, the Black Satellites will be led by by deputy coach Maxwell Konadu.

Wellington’s resignation comes after a series of mediocre performances in friendlies that included a 3-0 loss to the nation’s U-17 squad in May. Wellington’s tenure was capped with a 2-2 draw against Namibia earlier in the tournament in which the Satellites squandered a 2-0 lead with tentative play in the second half.

Egypt also comes into the game against Ghana with a draw against Namibia on their record after a goalless match Tuesday afternoon. Despite high expectations of Namibia following their performance against the Satellites, Egypt controlled the exchanges for much of the game but were unable to finish with a goal to break the deadlock.

Despite the lack of finish, Mahmoud Wahid looked to be the most dangerous attacker for Egypt. He had Egypt’s best chance of the game in the 15th minute when he maneuvered his way into the penalty box for a shot that couldn’t find the back of the net. Wahid is someone the Black Satellites will need to mark closely if they hope to come away victorious.

After the disappointing result against Namibia, the Satellites are expected to come all guns blazing to salvage some pride. The team will look to strikers Fatawu Safiu and Benjamin Fadi – Ghana’s goal scorers in the first match – to continue to produce the goals, while acting coach Konadu will have to deploy a stronger defensive line-up to avoid any embarrassment against the Egyptians.

The three nations tournament serves as part of the Satellites preparations for their impending qualifier against Uganda for a ticket to the 2013 Africa Youth Championship.