By Kwame Bediako
Ghana’s U-15 boys team made a strong start at the African Schools Football Championship, defeating Uganda’s U-15 team 2-0 in their opening match. Head coach Kwadwo Danso expressed his pride in the team’s performance, despite acknowledging missed opportunities to score more goals. He emphasized that while the team could have buried the game with at least four goals, their overall effort was commendable and a good foundation for future matches.
Danso explained that the team’s slow start was due to the players’ limited exposure to high-pressure competitions, which caused some to panic in the initial minutes. He noted that this lack of experience affected their performance early on but assured that they would work on building their confidence and exposure.
“In the game plan, we saw the boys didn’t start well. We didn’t start well because some of the boys, they don’t have exposure to this kind of competition. So you could see that some of them were panicking.So that accounted for that first five minutes non-performance. We are going to work on that. For now, they have experience”; Kwadwo Danso mentioned.
He further revealed that the team is focused on rapid attacks, which proved effective in securing their two goals in each half. “We told them that this kind of competition, we don’t solely rely on game flow.But we practise on rapid attack. And it helped.The rapid attack gave us two goals. First half, one. And then second half, one. So based on our strategy, they performed very well.”
Looking ahead, Danso stated that there are several areas for improvement based on their first game. He stressed the importance of mental preparation and supporting the players through increased exposure and encouragement.
He called on the Football Association to organize more support from schools and urged fans to come out in larger numbers to cheer for the team. The team’s morale, he said, is significantly boosted by home support, which helps the boys perform at their best.
