Referee, Daouda Guèye finally blew the whistle after 90 minutes, it was Ghana 2-3 Egypt. A lot of things went wrong that night, considering the fact the Black Meteors had taken the lead twice.
Captain of the team Yaw Yeaboh recounts the walk to the dressing room “We could feel the pain and it took forever to get to the dressing room, there was a silence on the bus that prolonged to the hotel room”. Knowing that like a sinking sand their time in Egypt was running out with a down to the wire situation cropping up.
Miles away, in Ghana, social media awash with criticism of the team’s performance with some ready to put the gaffer, Ibrahim Tanko on the ‘chopping board’ if they had the opportunity to. Yaw Yeboah recalls the team’s determination to forget the loss to Egypt. He notes, “Sometimes you lose and you win”.
The odds against them immense, a need for a mathematical intervention on matchday three, their aspirations looked very dim.
As fate would have it, Egypt beat Cameroon 2-1 and Ghana edged pass Mali 2-0 in dramatic fashion aiding the Meteors to book a slot in the last four of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations. The 22-year-old let in a secret about the team, “Anytime there is a lot of pressure, we deliver, we are capable of dealing with the pressure”
The Black Meteors' struggles to get to Egypt have been well documented. It looked like the tides were against them in their last U-23 Afcon qualifier. A lot of doubting Thomas since the team had drawn one all with Algeria at home. However, they were able to stun Algeria in Setif by a lone goal win to qualify for the tournament. The captain chips in some untold struggles “ We have been through a lot since day one with Togo, to a flight scare while embarking on a qualifier.” The Black Meteors had to be in the air for two hours, as the plane could not land due to bad weather. This resulted in plane heading to another country to wait for orders to arrive at their destination. It was a terrifying experience for all.
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