The Japan U24s team that will be representing the country at next month’s Olympics on home soil have handed Ghana’s U24s (Black Meteors) a 10-0 aggregate defeat scoreline in double-header friendlies.
The Black Meteors were thumped 4-0 again this morning in the return fixture after suffering a humiliating 6-0 defeat in the first-leg on Saturday morning.
Head coach of the side, Paa Kwasi Fabin, has blamed the heavy defeats at the hands of Japan on the unavailability of his top players.
Hearts of Oak duo of Afriyie Barnieh and Salifu Ibrahim were players not released for the friendlies.
Fabin believes if these players were available, the scoreline would have been different.
“Many players who participated in the U-20 Africa Championship, but unfortunately the top players at this time could not come to Japan this time, ” he said after the game.
“The top players (in the U-20 generation) remained in the domestic league, so they haven’t come to Japan.”
The Black Meteors will be up against South Korea in a similar friendly on June 12 and 15, respectively. Coach Fabin will hope his team performs better to avoid a repeat of the Japan thrashing.
