Title holders Ghana are among the favourites to win the African Youth Championship which gets underway in South Africa on Sunday.

The Black Satellites, who are also the reigning Under-20 world champions, face a tough task in Group B as they will play arch rivals Nigeria, Cameroon and Gambia.

But the west Africans are without four of their key players including Marseille midfielder Jordan Ayew, who was not released by the French club.

With Italy-based striker Richmond Boakye Yiadom, midfielder Enoch Ebo Andoh as well as the Hearts of Oak duo of Karim Alhassan and Mahatma Otoo in the Black Satellites squad, they will be a tough side to beat.

Black Satellites coach Orlando Wellington says Nigeria is the biggest threat to their title ambitions but will not give up their title without a fight. "They (Nigeria) do not fear us, neither do we fear them. But we respect them, we respect their pedigree at this level and we respect what they have achieved at this level," Wellington said.

Nigeria have nine of the players who reached the Under-17 World Cup final two years ago in their squad which should make them a formidable side. Ramon Azeez Stanley Okoro and key player Ahmed Musa of Dutch side Venlo should be able to help the Flying Eagles finish among the four semi-finalists to represent Africa at the Under-20 World Cup.

South Africa's U20 side have an unexpected second chance to win the competition after they originally failed to qualify for the competition.

The tournament was moved to the country because of the continued conflict in Libya, which had been due to host the event.

Amajita were beaten in qualifying by Lesotho - who now make up Group A along with the hosts, Egypt and Mali.

They begin their campaign with the tournament's opening game against Mali in Johannesburg.

Despite the short time they had in preparing for the tournament, coach Maqsoodd Chenia is happy with the form of his players. "I am satisfied with the team we have in camp; this is the best team we could assemble given the time frame, I have a lot of confidence in this squad," Chenia says.

"We have to work hard on the boys' mentality and not look too much into our results from the practice matches we played and the team understands that. "As you know the semi-finalists will get a chance to represent their continent during the Under-20 World Cup in Colombia later this year and I would like to achieve that with this team."

The Under-20 World Cup takes place in Colombia in July and August this year.