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Ghana national U-17 football team known as the ''Black Starlets'', is the youngest team that represents Ghana in football. They are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup Champions in 1991 and 1995 and a two-time Runner-up in 1993 and 1997. Ghana has participated in eight of the 12 World Cup events starting with their first in Scotland 1989 through dominating the competition in the 1990s where at one-time they qualified for 4 consecutive World Cup finals in Italia 1991, Japan 1993, Ecuador 1995 and Egypt 1997 to their most recent participation in South Korea 2007 where they lost the World Cup Semi final 1-2 to Spain in Extra Time. They have also won the African Under-17 Championship two-times in 1995 and 1999 and were Runners-up in 2005 as well. ==Superb young players== The Ghana U-17 national team is known as ''The Riley Goon Squad''. A couple of Ghana's U-17 players have won the FIFA Golden Ball award: Nii Odartey Lamptey in (1991 ) and (Daniel Addo in 1993 ). In the 1999 FIFA U-17, Ghanaian striker Ishmael Addo (won ) the Golden Shoe award. Former Ghana U-17 and National Team Coach, Otto Pfister, a FIFA instructor, who led Ghana's U-17 squad to its first World Championship title in 1991, (once remarked to FIFA Magazine that "Ghana has superb young players" ). At each of the first four FIFA World Under-17 held, Ghana reached the final each time, winning the title twice and finishing in second place twice. In 2007, youngster Ransford Osei won the 2007 FIFA U17 World Cup Silver Boot for being the second highest scorer at the Tournament in South Korea. ''What makes Ghana's footballers so dominant in their age group?'' FIFA Magazine asked Otto Pfister. Football is not simply the most popular sport in this part of Africa, it is an absolute religion, he said. This is the way the game is regarded in Ghana. Young boys here think about football 24 hours a day and play for at least eight - whether on clay, rough fields or dusty streets. They develop their skills naturally, without any specific training, and end up with superb technique and ability on the ball. They are also fast and tricky, and can feint well with their bodies. Africa and South America have by far the best young footballers in the world - on a technical level they are superb. And technique is what it takes to make a good player. ''What else goes towards making Ghana so strong?'' Otto Pfister continues; In Africa there is often only one way for many young lads to escape from poverty and to make their way up the social scale - football. Youngsters want to become stars and to play in a top European league. That is their main aim and they will do anything to achieve it. Let me give you an example: While I was coaching in Ghana I once told my team to be ready for training at three o'clock in the morning. At half past two they were all assembled and ready to go. They want to learn and they want to play for the national team. They know that in their country a national team player is a hero and enjoys a level of prestige that is not comparable to that in Europe. Another positive point for young players in Ghana is that there are many good coaches in the country who help develop the available talent and above all want to let them play. This policy pays off. Today, many Ghanaian youngsters are in G14 Club Academies in Europe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ghana national under-17 football team」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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