Ghana’s national Under-20 team, the Black Satellites, will finally get some much-needed match practice when they take part in a five-team tournament in Egypt.

The reigning African champions are one of five teams involved in a four-day tournament that will run from July 21-25 as Egypt test their readiness to host the world in September for the World Youth Cup.

And the pick of the tournament will come as early as Tuesday when Ghana take on west African rivals Nigeria in their opening game. The two teams are staying in the same hotel in Cairo and will square off tomorrow after host Egypt has played Guatamela.

In a demanding schedule, Ghana have been lined up to play Guatamela on Wednesday, before they take on Egypt on Friday.

Head of Ghana’s delegation in Egypt, Jordan Anagla, tells KickOffGhana.com the tournament has come at a crucial time for the team.

Ghana’s preparations for the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt has been poor, with a proposed tour of South Africa cancelled, a five-match tour of Venezuela that never happened and the last-minute cancellation of a two-match trip to South Korea in favour of the Egypt tournament.

The fear of many commentators, however, is that with many first team players unavailable, the tournament in Egypt will serve little purpose in terms of team-building.