The Black Starlets tops Group A after drawing 1-1 with South American giant, Brazil on Monday and will play host nation, Korea Republic on Wednesday in the last group pairings.


Attacker, Ransford Osei got his fourth goal of the competition when he scored against the Brazilians in the second group game which ended in a draw.


Ghana are level on points with Brazil but lead the standings with a better goal difference.


With the winners from the various groups meeting in the finals, Ghana would need a good victory over the host nation to consolidate their stay at the top and book a date with winners of Group B.


The Black Starlets got their preparations for the FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament off to a good start when they beat Haiti 3-0 in the first group game on Saturday.


The 8-nation mini pre-competition tournament hosted by Korea Republic seeks to prepare the qualified nations from the globe for the FIFA U-17 World Cup and also mark as a dress rehearsal for the tournament with only two months to go before the start of the competition.


The competition is expected to offer Ghana team coach, Frederick Osam Duodu an opportunity to assess his team before the finals of FIFA U-17 World Cup in two month time at the venues used for the mini-competition.


After the group stage, the two runners-up will play off for third place, before the group winner’s face each other for the title in Cheonan on Saturday, 23 June.

5 Teams participated in the 1st Scouting Team Football Festival at Legon Ajax´s Park on Sunday, 20th of May in Accra, Ghana. The 5 teams that have been participating in the U19 category were:


Cedabs FC
Golden Bliss Soccer Academy

SAF-ALL Academy
ST Barcelona (team of young talents selected by Scouting Team)

ST Chelsea (team of young talents selected by Scouting Team)


The tournament started with Cedabs FC playing against Scouting Team selected side ST Barcelona. It was an excellent game and Cedabs had the opener from a classic free kick in the 1st half. ST Barcelona came close on several occasions but could not equalize before halftime. After the break it was still a strong contention between the two sides as ST Barcelona wanted to equalize but their efforts did not yield them an equalizer until about 10mins before the end of the match when Godfred Appiah of Frankfurt Academy capitalized on a defensive blunder to score. The match ended in 1-1 draw and this sent the match to penalties. ST Barcelona won the penalty shoot out by 3-4.





In the second match Golden Bliss Soccer Academy took on Scouting Team selected side ST Chelsea. This was a very interesting game to watch as golden Bliss Soccer Academy beat Chelsea by 2-0 in an excellent encounter. Golden Bliss Soccer Academy, a Mamprobi based colt clubs, put up a splendid performance in the 1st half which fetch them two goals and missed so many chances that came their way. The ST Chelsea team defence had problems to organize the defence (having on mind the player´s never played together before) and this gave Golden Bliss attackers a good opportunity to penetrate and score. In the second half the defence was organized much better.


The match between SAF-ALL Academy vs. ST Barcelona ended in a 2-1 victory in favour of SAF-ALL Academy. ST Barcelona FC started the match very well with exquisite touches and leading in every department of the game. This ended then an early goal. The Barcelona left full back dribbled past his opponent and chipped the ball into the net. SAF-ALL Academy came back in to the game with an equalizer in the first half. The match ended 1-1 in the first half. Back from break SAF-ALL Academy increase the tally to two goals from a powerful shot. ST Barcelona fought very hard to come back into the match but all efforts were rendered futile.


In the last game of the day saw Golden Bliss Soccer Academy against Cedabs FC. The two teams play in the Accra West Colt district and in their League encounter Golden Bliss Soccer Academy lost 2-0 to Cedabs FC. The match started with fantastic build up from Cedabs FC which fetches them a goal in the 1st half and later in the game Osumanu equalized for Golden Bliss Soccer Academy.

Football is without question the most important and popular sport across the world today. Scouting Team is privileged to be involved in such a great game.
Scouting Team is proud to organize and sponsor the 1st Scouting Team Football Festival 2007 held in Legon Ajax's Park. The tournament will feature players of two age categories, U19 and U23. The two days tournament will commence on Sunday, 20th May and ends Monday, 21st May.

The U19 competition will be played on Sunday. Participants in the U19 category are: Cedabs FC, SAF-All Academy, and two selected sides with young talents from Ghana´s Colts Leagues and Division clubs.
The U23 category will be played on Monday and features 3 selected sides with young talents from Ghana´s Premiership and Division Leagues. All matches will be recorded on video and will be available to watch on www.scoutingtalents.com soon.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007 will be held in South Korea. For this event, the number of teams has been increased from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four best third-place teams advancing to the Round of 16. Also, from now on, the confederation which produced the last champion, that is CONCACAF, will have an extra spot in the qualifying rounds. The tournament will be held from 19 August to 18 September.
Only players born after 1 January 1990 can participate in this tournament.




Football enthusiasts planning to attend the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Korea in August and September will have a whole host of high-profile games to look forward to, including delectable ties between England and Brazil and Argentina and Spain. Watch out for Bojan Krkic the new sensational.


The draw was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul and the draw provided the competition with six groups, which promise to be closely contested. Unquestionably the pick of the sections sees CONMEBOL champions Brazil, UEFA runners-up England, AFC bronze medalists Korea DPR and Oceania winners New Zealand battle it out in Group B.


Group C has a Spanish-speaking flavour about it as Argentina, Honduras and Spain meet Syria, one of the surprise qualifiers from the Asian Football Confederation. The winners in Asia, Japan were drawn against France, Nigeria and Haiti in Group D. USA, the leading U-17 side in the CONCACAF zone will meet Belgium, Tunisia and Tajikistan in Group E.


Hosts Korea Republic have avoided the so-called big guns, but will be tested against Peru, Costa Rica and Togo in Group A. Meanwhile, the different styles of Colombia, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago and Ghana will be on display in Group F.


FIFA U-17 World Cup Korea 2007 Official Draw


Group A
A1. Korea Republic

A2. Peru
A3. Costa Rica

A4. Togo


Group B
B1. Korea DPR

B2. England
B3. Brazil

B4. New Zealand


Group C
C1. Honduras

C2. Spain
C3. Argentina

C4. Syria


Group D
D1. Nigeria

D2. France
D3. Japan

D4. Haiti


Group E
E1. Belgium

E2. Tunisia
E3. Tajikistan

E4. USA


Group F
F1. Colombia

F2. Germany
F3. Trinidad and Tobago

F4. Ghana

2007 African U-17 Championship, Semifinal:


20 Mar /13 / Togo vs Ghana / 15:30 / Kegue
20 Mar /14 / Nigeria vs Tunisia / 18:30 / Kegue


Togo topped Group A at the African Under-17 Championship in Togo, after leaders Tunisia drew 2-2 with South African. Tunisia drew their 1st game against Gabon and surprisingly won against host nation Togo 3-0. Togo played very well in that game but could not utilize the chances that came their way. The Tunisian capitalized on counter attack to win against Togo. The Tunisian are tactically disciplined and kept on breaking the rhythm of the Togolese.


Nigeria finished top of Group B at the African Under-17 Championship in Togo on Saturday after beating Ghana 2-0.

The Golden Eaglets topped the group on nine points with the Black Starlets finishing second on six points. The Golden Eaglets took control of the game with Rafael Ademola finding the back of the net on 41 minutes. In the 88th minute Ghana keeper Abraham Hoenyedzi parried a powerful shot from Oseni Gani's for substitute Akinsola Kabiru to finish and sealed the victory


With final group games concluded, Nigeria will lock horns with Tunisia while Togo takes on Ghana in the second semi-finals. We expect some great football in the semi-final matches from all 4 teams.


Our Representative in Ghana, Joseph Epton, has attended the 2007 African U-17 Championship in Togo and observed all players during the group stages. He will be back in Togo for the semifinals.
For any inquiries or information about the tournament or players please feel free to contact Joseph at: josephepton@scoutingteam.com