WAFU U-20: “Benin gave Ghana a good run in the final group game” – Desmond Ofei

Head coach of Ghana’s U-20, Desmond Ofei has admitted that Benin gave his team a good run for their money in the final Group A game of the WAFU Zone B Boys Cup on Wednesday.

The Black Satellites squeezed a 1-0 victory over Benin on Wednesday to qualify for the semifinals of the 2025 WAFU ZONE B U-20 Boys Cup.

A solitary strike by Golden Kicks forward, Bless Ege earned Ghana all three points, pushing them to four points, level with Nigeria after two matches.

Desmond Ofei said: “We were really happy that in such an occasion the players will rise to the occasion and in the end it was a good goal, a good quality goal and we are very happy and we also have to give it up to Benin because they didn’t give us an easy game.

“We tried everything to manage it and we did really well so for our boys it’s really good for them, a really good experience and we can only get better for the next round,” Desmond Ofei told the media.

“You can see that they [Benin] is a good team, a very hardworking team and we knew they were going to be very aggressive in a positive way because and we knew that they were going to give everything because they needed the points.

“So we were ready, we were prepared and like I said it was a good test for our boys to see the other side of the game.” Desmond Ofei added.

Ghana’s journey to the semifinals started with a 1-1 draw against the Flying Eagles of Nigeria before the slim 1-0 win over Benin to book a spot in the next phase of the tournament at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence.