Ghana coach Ibrahim Tanko claims that his squad is ready for glory at the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco.
After weeks of training at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, the Black Meteors stepped up their preparations with a weeklong training camp in Egypt.
During their time in Cairo, Tanko’s side drew 1-1 with Egypt U23 and defeated Zamalek 4-1 in two test games.
As the Meteors begin their campaign against Congo on Sunday, June 25, the gaffer believes that his squad is well-positioned to meet the clear objective of qualifying for their seventh participation in the Summer Olympics next year in Paris.
“Our target is to qualify for the Olympic Games but of course, there is a trophy at stake so we want to win it too”.
“Our preparations have been good. We started in Ghana and went to Egypt. Our objective is to qualify and to win the ultimate,” Tanko said at the pre-match conference on the eve of the Meteors’ opener in Group A.
“The squad has prepared well, and we recently defeated Zamalek 4-1. This match concluded our training camp in Egypt, and I’m quite satisfied with what the boys produced during this preparation. We still have a few details to address,” he added.
Tanko was in charge when Ghana narrowly missed out on football at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after finishing in fourth place in the last edition of the U-23 Afcon held in Egypt.
He stated: “I was at the last edition of this competition in Egypt so I have an idea how it’s going to be. All the teams deserve to be here and I think it’s going to be a very good tournament.”
The Ghana-Congo game kicks off at 16:00 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdullah Stadium in Rabat.
The Black Meteors’ second match will be against Morocco on June 27, followed by Guinea three days later to round off the group stage. Both games kick off at 20:00 GMT.
