High on confidence and with the motive of keeping the winning momentum alive in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, the two victorious sides from Friday’s matches — Ghana and the United States of America — will face each other in a crucial group A encounter at the Jawahar lal Nehru stadium, here on Monday.
USA and Ghana are sitting at the top of the group with 3 points each with USA leading on goal difference. A win for either of the side will confirm a spot in the knockout stage.
The John Hackworth-managed team would be again depending on the prowess of the skipper Joshua Sargent to deal with a strong African outfit. The experienced campaigner, with an Under-20 World Cup experience under his belt, would again be heading the attacking quartet — also consisting of Tim Weah, Ayo Akinola and Andrew Carleton — and are expected to ask tougher questions of Ghana's defensive backline compared to the Colombians.
The midfielders, Chris Durkin (who also scored the second goal) and Chris Goslin, dominated the centre of the field with some ease against India but the same comfort can't be expected against the rival's much stronger and taller defensive midfielders — Mohammed Iddriss and Mohammed Kudus.
But the major headache for coach Hackworth would be his counterpart's own quartet of attack — Eric Ayiah, Mohammed Aminu, Sadiq Ibrahim and Emmanuel Toku.
Before the start of the tournament, limelight was on striker Ayiah as the main goal-scoring threat from coach Paa Fabin Kwesi's team. But on Friday, Sadiq stole the show with his match-winning goal, also becoming the first goal scorer of the tournament in the process. The outcome of the match not only expanded Kwesi's arsenal of attack but also certified the African nation's shot at the title.
Ghana, so far, have managed to keep a clean sheet in the tournament. Goalkeeper Ibrahim Danlad played a vital role in that; his two early saves against threatening Jaminton Campaz of Colombia denied early lead to the South Americans. Danlad came to India with a big reputation as the shot-stopper saved two penalties in a nerve-wracking Final of African Nations' Cup against Mali.
Both the teams impressed with a dominating performance in their opening games, which leads to a promise of a high-octane clash when both the teams take on each other for an early qualification route to the round of 16.