Nine-man Black Starlets rally to beat Spain

The Black Starlets continued their impressive performance at the ongoing UEFA U-16 Development Tournament in Serbia with another emphatic victory over Spain on Saturday afternoon.

Ghana secured their second win at the tournament staged in the European country for players below the age of 16, after picking a narrow win over Spain in a five-goal thriller.

The first department of the game ended in a one-all draw with Great Corinthians centre-forward Benjamin Tsivanyo scoring for Ghana.

In the second half, Goals from Tsivanyo and Peter Hammond aided the Black Starlets to record a 3-2 victory over Spain.

At the heart of Ghana’s midfield was 15-year-old Fatawu Ganiwu, who plays for Sporting Avranches, a Division 2-based club in Madina.

Fatawu was full of confidence and anchored the midfield. He possesses the calmness of Sergio Busquets on the ball and the aggression of Michael Essien in winning the ball.

His ability to provide the forward lines with defence splitting passes from midfield is exceptional for a 15-year-old who plays in the 3rd tier of Ghana’s football league.

The young lad from Madina Zongo won most of the midfield duels and has so far put up a good performance in the opening two games of the tournament.

Before today’s fixture, Coach Karim Zito’s side had inflicted an embarrassing 4-0 defeat on host nation, Serbia, in the opening fixture of the tournament on Thursday a game in which Fatawu enjoyed majority of possession in midfield.

Ghana will wrap up the 2023 UEFA U16 Development Tournament with a game against Switzerland on Tuesday, April 18. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 8:00am GMT.