Accra, July 7, GNA - Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Clement Kofi Humado has urged the National U-23 team, the Black Meteors to put behind th= e first leg defeat to their Nigerian counterparts by ensuring that they beat them convincingly to qualify for the 2011 All Africa games in Maputo. In a goodwill message sent on behalf of the Government and the people of Ghana, the Minister advised the team to be focused and to show determination to win the match to qualify for the All Africa Games. A press release sent on behalf of the Minister copied to GNA Sports on Thursday also urged the technical and management teams to work hard and to ensure that the team is physically and psychologically ready for the match on Sunday.

The Meteors lost the first leg 1-3 to the 91Dream Team' of Nigeria with the second leg scheduled for the Baba Yara Sports stadium, Kumasi on Sunday= .. Mr Humado said 93Even though a handful of the players who featured in the first leg have returned to their teams in Europe, I am confident that the team is still more than capable of overturning the first leg score line in Nigeria and to qualify for Maputo since they cannot afford to disappoint the good people of Ghana."

The Minister also appealed to the sporting public to throng to the Bab= a Yara stadium in their numbers on Sunday to cheer on the Meteors to qualify. He called on all religious sects to remember the Meteors in their prayers ahead of the Sunday match so that they can qualify and progress as a formidable team ready to conquer all at the All Africa Games come September= ..