The race to the finals of the 16th African Youth Championships in Rwanda 2009 gets tougher with the first leg matches of the second round scheduled for the last weekend of September.

The Gambia U-20 side, who had a bright start in the first round after beating Mauritania in both legs, will face a difficult fixture on September 27th 2008, when they will travel to Accra to take on the Black Starlets. But the Assistant Coach of The Gambia U-20 side Lamin Sarr, while speaking to Pointsports on his team’s level of preparedness, stated that the players are ready to face Ghana in three weeks time.

“Our dream and aspiration is to beat Ghana and qualify to the 2009 championship in Rwanda next year. So we are working hard towards that,” he asserted.

He pointed out that Gambian players plying their trade in international leagues like Sainey Nyassi, Sanna Nyassi, Sainey Touray, Pa Modou Jagne, Abdoulie Mansally and Sainey Sidibeh will be made available for the encounter.

Meanwhile, Ghana is equally prepared as the team, said to feature Andre Ayew, son of African football legend Abedi Pele including five other foreign-based namely Ishmael Yartey (Benefica, Portugal), Daniel Opare (Real Madrid, Spain), Sadick Adams (Athletico Madrid, Spain) and France-based duo, Enoch Adu Kofi and Abeiku Quansah look poised for a bright campaign.