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Black Satellites beat Niger to reach WAFU final

The Black Satellites have reached the final of the 2020 WAFU Zone B U-20 Championship after they defeated Niger on penalties on Tuesday evening in Benin.
Black Satellites
Black Satellites

The game ended goalless draw and when the referee ushered the two sides into a penalty shootout to decide which side reaches the final, the Black Satellites scored five of their kicks as against three by Niger.

Frank Boateng did Ghana the honours of scoring the match-winning spot-kick.

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Ghana showed their intention of carrying the day right after the referee’s first whistle and made two dangerous moves in the early exchanges, but they were denied by the goalie for Niger Abubakar Issaka

The Nigerian shot-stopper saved a Mugeez Zakaria strike after he has been sent through by Asiam before acrobatically punching a ferocious volley from Sulley Mohammed.

Issaka’s second save forced him to get injured and had to be replaced after all attempts by the medics to treat him to continue had failed.

The Nigeriens had their turn immediately after their substitution, but they fluffed the opportunity to give the Black Satellites a big sigh of relief.

Ghana’s lone goal hero in their win over rivals Nigeria Precious Boah who was returning after his suspension for the Ivory Coast tried substitute goalkeeper Omar Lawali, but he passed the test by pulling off a great save to deny Ghana from finding the back of the net.

Back from recess, the two sides exhibited their quest to carry the day and in the end, the second 45 minutes saw both sides making dangerous incursion in their opponents' goal area.

Boah’s 45th-minute freekick almost resulted in a goal but he was denied by the woodwork.

Ghana had a goal ruled out as offside in the second half of extra time before coach Karim Zito brought on goalkeeper Emmanuel Essue for Dan Lad Ibrahim as penalties approached.

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