No Turning Back for Satellites

Coach Sellas Tetteh has treaded the World Cup terrain before and acknowledges the tricky challenge that confronts him and the Black Satellites as they go into today�s FIFA Under � 20 semi-finals game against surprised package, Hungary, in Cairo. Besides being the former deputy Black Stars trainer to Ratomir Dujkovic, when Ghana appeared at the World Cup in Germany in 2006, Sellas Tetteh was also in charge when the Starlets swept their way into the semi-final at the FIFA Under � 17 World Cup in 2007. This is the experience that the Ghanaian trainer carriers on his sleeve as the Satellites take on one of the slowest starters here in Egypt, but who have defied the odds to scrape through. Hungary, one of five nations representing Europe, opened their campaign with a 3 � 0 loss to Honduras before recovering to beat South Africa 4 � 0 and the United Arab Emirates 2 � 0 to top Group F. They have since sent the highly-rated Czech Republic and Italy home in games that travelled into extra time. Their campaign sharply contrasts that of Ghana�s Satellites who have conquered all that they surveyed � save Uruguay � with absolute authority to earn their deserved tag as favorites for the trophy. In five matches, the Satellites� 12 goals have averaged more than two goals per match, although their only clean slate came in the 4 � 0 drubbing of England in a group play. �We must bear in mind that any of the teams that qualified for this stage is capable of progressing to win the cup, and Hungary could be one of them. The fighting spirit they exhibited last Friday makes them one of the stubborn sides of the competition,� Sellas Tetteh admitted in an interview. Indeed, his words sum up the extent of competition facing Ghana�s team today as they attempt to become the first African side to lift the Under � 20 trophy. But his biggest asset lies in the two pronged attack of leading scorer Dominic Adiyah and Ransford Osei, between whom the Satellites have scored nine of those 12 goals so far. In fact, it is this asset, rather than the offensive-minded defence line, that holds Ghana�s hopes in the competition. And that is the basis in which the Satellites will tackle today�s game. In the other semi-final match, Brazil and Costa Rica will meet for the second time in the tournament. Brazil beat their Central American counterparts 5-0 in Group E, but he Costa Ricans have recovered in a dramatic fashion to reach this far, having beaten host nation Egypt and managed a last gasp win against the United Arab Emirates in the epic quarter-final encounter.