*Saturday, October 17, 2009*

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*The 2008 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has sent a congratulatory message to the Black Satellites, following their splendid performance in the just ended FIFA U-20 World Cup which “saw our boys lift their first, and Africa’s first gold since the inception of the U-20 World Cup”.*

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*In his message, Nana Akufo-Addo said “the entire nation is very proud of your impressive performance in the tournament, and you have showed once again what accomplishments are within our reach as Ghanaians when we draw together our individual talents in pursuit of a collective goal”. *

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*“Your achievements are the outcome of important, much needed reforms that our football administration has seen over the last few years, which, indeed, resulted in our senior national team, the Black Stars’ maiden qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where they gave a good account of themselves, reaching the second round at their first attempt, and which saw you, the Satellites, crowned African Champions at the African U-20 Championship in January. We hope that your exploits will inspire the Black Stars also to write history next year as the first African country to lift the World Cup at the senior most level, especially as for the first time the World Cup would be held in Africa”. *

*Nana Akufo-Addo further added that “your supporters home and abroad, are elated about your determination, tenacity and resilience, which strengthened your resolve and commitment to achieve gold and making it obvious that we are amongst the best on this planet”. *

*He concluded his message by acknowledging the role of the management and technical team of the Satellites, adding that “you and your managers deserve our warmest congratulations for hoisting our national flag one more time aloft with pride on the international stage”. *

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*He called for Gods blessings on the team and mother Ghana. *