Head coach of Ghana Black Satellites, Karim Zito, has explained his decision to start team captain Afriyie Barnieh from the bench against Niger in the WAFU Zone B championship semi-final in Benin on Tuesday.
Ghana beat the Nigerians on penalties to book a place in the final against Burkina Faso and has subsequently qualified for the 2021 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Mauritania.
The coach made four changes to his starting lineup during their clash with Niger which included the Hearts of Oak midfielder but he has explained the motive behind such a decision.
“You should have a rich bench even after getting your eleven starters. He’s the captain. Before [the move] I sat with him and made him aware that he won’t be starting.
“He was tasked to study from the bench so if the opportunity came for him to enter the game, he could make the necessary impact,” he said.
” So it’s just a strategy we adopted,” Zito revealed.
Ghana will next play Burkina Faso in the final on Saturday December 19.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Sylvester Ntim
