In the affections of Ghanaian football fans of a certain generation, the national U-17 male team, the Black Starlets, holds a special place.
It was they that, in 1991, made the country feel, for the very first time, the euphoria that comes with winning the Fifa World Cup at any level. The triumphant group, featuring the mercurial Nii Odartey Lamptey and a number of future national stars, opened our eyes to new possibilities, showing just what this small country in the western corner of Africa could aspire to and attain.
That summer in Italy was truly special. We fell in love, and the romance lasted the rest of that decade, as Ghana finished on the podium three more times, even touching the sky again with a second world title four years after the first.
The Black Stars may be the flagship national team, but during a spell that saw them make an annoying habit of underwhelming, it was the Starlets that emitted those rays of hope which warmed our hearts. Principal streets, all over the country, were named in their honour, deservingly; in our minds, the memories were permanently filed.
Twenty-three years into the next century, despite the resurgent Stars going some way to reclaim pride of place, the Starlets retain a lot of interest.
It’s why many have keenly monitored their activity over the last fortnight or so, as the team — its latest incarnation, that is — coached by Abdul Karim Zito, one of Ghana’s most reputable trainers of young talent, has travelled to face peers from Europe and Asia on friendly terms.
At a Uefa U16 Development tournament last month, the Starlets won all three games, opening with a 4-0 thrashing of Serbia before handing 3-2 defeats to Spain and Switzerland, respectively. They carried that fine form — and the latter scoreline — to Saudi Arabia, where they engaged and overcame the Gulf country’s team last Sunday. A second meeting with the Saudis a few days later, on Thursday, saw Ghana recover from a four-goal deficit incurred within the first half-hour to secure a 4-4 draw by full-time.
Impressive as all this is, happenings elsewhere remind us strongly that globetrotting isn’t what the Starlets ought to be doing right now.
The Africa U17 Cup of Nations is currently underway in Algeria, featuring the continent’s best teams, with Ghana conspicuously missing after failing to capitalise on home advantage during the sub-regional championships — hosted by the country in June 2022 — that doubled as qualifiers.
It’s the second successive continental finals that the Starlets have been absent from.
If the rise of the Starlets to global acclaim in the nineties was stunning to watch, their decline in the noughties and beyond has been truly heartbreaking. They’ve only been at four editions of the World Cup in this period, their last appearance coming five years ago; they’d have to wait another two years for the next chance to return to a stage that they once graced for fun.
Credit, though, to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for not dwelling on this disappointment, and for commencing the rebuild without delay.
The project has been entrusted to the experienced Zito, assisted by Laryea Kingston, himself a former Ghana youth star, who is steadily blossoming into a fine tactician after completing his apprenticeship at the Right to Dream Academy, Ghana’s premier talent development hub.
Following the pair’s appointment last December, a large pool of players was scouted nationwide, from which a formidable nucleus has now been drawn. And in the likes of free-scoring Benjamin Tsivanyo, Peter Hammond, Bossman Debrah and Ramzey Asumadu, shoots of promise can be seen sprouting all over the pitch for the Starlets.
But this, of course, is just the beginning.
Nothing really concrete has been constructed yet, as the team is still quite rough around the edges; they finished one game with nine men, two with ten, and, for all the attacking verve on display, have conceded two or more goals (ten, in all) in four of these five games.
However, the disciplinary and defensive issues are only as noteworthy as the positives that have shone through, such as their remarkable resilience and an understanding between the players that has been cultivated quite impressively in the short while they have been together. The outline of a great team is already shaping up, and it’s hard not to get excited about just what could finally emerge at the end of the process.
Should the usual pitfalls and needless setbacks that have plagued one too many junior Ghana sides — age eligibility controversies, for one — in the not-too-distant past be avoided, this batch would firmly be on its way to restore former glories… or, at the very least, achieve something close to what first made the Starlets, all those years ago, such national darlings.
Enn Y. Frimpong — Ink & Kicks
