Sports News of Tuesday, 27 April 1999

Source: PANA

Spanish Coach Praises Ghana

April 26, 1999 By Peter Demeyin

Lagos - Coach of the Spanish U-20 team Saez Ruiz Inaki whose team made history by winning the coveted 10th World Youth Championship in Nigeria last weekend by beating Japan 4-0 has rated the match against the Black Satellites of Ghana as the toughest match for his team.

Speaking after his team walloped Japan 4-0 to win the title, the coach stated that before the championship, the Spanish team had a modest ambition of being among the top six teams in the world but after beating the Ghanaian team, Coach Inaki said he knew that they would eventually win the competition because the Ghanaian team were among the best in the entire competition.

The elated coach who had a special phone call from the Spanish president after his team won the cup, revealed that back home, many Spaniards stayed glued to their television sets to watch the final match.

Saez Ruiz Inaki went on to thank God that he avoided Nigeria enroute winning the cup. He explained that though the Super Eagles beat Spain in the last World Cup, it would have been an extremely difficult match if his boys were pitched against the Flying Eagles.

He believed that in the next two years, his crop of players will graduate into the senior national team and become a potent force.