As the second phase of monitoring, screening, and training gets underway, Samuel Boadu has extended invitations to two groups of players for camping at the Ghanaman Centre of Excellence in Prampram.

The first batch is expected to arrive at the camp on Sunday, April 16, while the second batch is scheduled to report on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

The players were chosen from a pool of over 150 who underwent assessments at different times during a recent screening exercise held at the Ghanaman Centre of Excellence in Prampram.

The aim was to select the most promising individuals to represent the nation in upcoming international competitions, including the WAFU U-20 Cup of Nations, which is scheduled to take place in Cote D’Ivoire in July this year.

Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Cote D’Ivoire are set to compete in the tournament, which is scheduled to run from July 7 to 21, 2023.

Players in the first batch are expected to report to the Ghanaman Centre of Excellence in Prampram at 5 pm on Sunday, April 16, 2023, while the second batch is expected to report at the same time on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

In the opening game of the UEFA U16 Development Tournament, Ghana’s U17 national team, the Black Starlets, secured a dominant 4-0 victory over Serbia.

Benjamin Tsivanyo, a forward from Great Corinthians, scored a hat-trick in just 17 minutes, while Adjetey Theophilus sealed the win with a spectacular freekick.

The West African team made a scorching start and was awarded a penalty in the third minute after Tsivanyo was fouled inside the box. The striker took the penalty himself and converted it with ease, sending the Serbian goalkeeper the wrong way.

Shortly afterward, Tsivanyo scored his second goal by connecting with a cross from the right flank.

In the 17th minute, Tsivanyo completed his hat-trick by finishing off a beautiful pass from Asumadu Ramsey at the edge of the box.

Adjetey Theophilus secured the victory just before halftime with a magnificent freekick.

The Black Starlets’ next opponents are Spain, followed by a match against Switzerland in their final game.

Despite leading the Black Queens to three victories, including a 1-0 win over the Teranga Lionesses of Senegal, Head Coach Nora Hauptle revealed that the team is still under construction.

The friendly matches were crucial preparation for future competitions, such as the qualifiers for the African Women’s Cup of Nations and the African Games in March 2024, which Ghana is hosting.

The second leg of the doubleheader saw four changes to the starting lineup, with McCarthy Kerrie, Anasthesia Achiaa, Patience Peterson, and Princess Owusu replacing Cynthia Konlan, Adama Alhassan, Gifty Assifuah, and Azumah Bugre.

Despite the team’s fine start, Hauptle believes that they still need to work on their principles and continue to find each other on the pitch, making friendly games against different opponents crucial for their development.

“I think, all in all, in the end, we deserved this victory, we also need to give respect to Senegal.”

“I think we had the patience also, we knew we have quality and in the end, sometimes you play not so beautiful, but you still win and this is very important.”

“Yes we go step by step, we still need to work a lot on our principles, the players need to find each other.”

“We are still in the building process of this team and it is very important again, that we have friendly games.”

“We can play against different kind of opponents, which gives us different task to fulfil then we go into the qualification series.”