Ghana begin FIFA U-17 World Cup with a win

Sadiq Ibrahim scored the all-important goal as Ghana ran away with three full points in the tournament opener at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The match did not rise to any great heights with not many attempts at the goal with few good moves coming from both sides.

It was end-to-end stuff with Colombia slightly dominating initially before Ghana stamped their authority as the match went on.

Ghana, who finished runners-up in the African qualifying tournament, soaked the initial pressure from the Colombians and then slowly began to dictate terms on their South American opponents. They had won the tournament in 1991 and 1995.

Colombia were doing most of the attacking in the first half and had more possession. They initiated their attacks mostly from the left side of the pitch. Left winger Brayan Gomez had a couple of shots at the Ghana goal but could not test goalkeeper Danlad Ibrahim properly.

It was Ghana who drew the first blood in the 39th minute with Ibrahim connecting a fine cross from the left by captain Eric Ayiah. It was a defensive sloppiness on the part of the Colombians and their captain and center back Thomas Gutierrez allowed the low cross to go past him across the face of the goal for Ibrahim to fire home with a low shot.

Colombia coach Orlando Restrepo replaced Brayan Gomez by Deiber Caicedo at the half time but his side s fortunes did not change much.