Ghana Erupts In Joy After Black Satellites Conquer The World

Ghana was set alight with joy on Friday night as the Black Satellites pipped Brazil 4-3 on penalties to win the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Cairo, becoming the first African team to do so.

Motorists tooted their horns, fans waved Ghana's flag of red, gold and green with the black star in the middle, rolled on the ground, ran up and down streets, and sang in praise of the footballers when Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu held his nerve to slot home his penalty kick for an historic victory.

"Hail Ghana!" shouted many people from all walks of life.

"We have won! We're world champions!" one sports fan shouted as he raced up and down from a TV repair shop in Accra, where he and about a dozen others watched the nail-biting finals.

Goalkeeper Daniel Agyei was specially hailed by fans, who noted that his heroism saved the day for the Africans.

"It was tough, but we won. Thanks be to God," said another, who pointed out that when the FIFA World Cup trophy was presented to President John Mills on Thursday, he invited two reverend ministers to pray for victory for the Black Satellites in Friday's match and the Black Stars in South Africa.

"God's hand was on us. Just look at what happened. We lost a defender half-way in the first half, and against a skilful Brazilian side, it was a hard blow. We were at the receiving end for most of the match and [Dominic] Adiyiah was marked out. Who else gave us victory but God?!," he said.

Restaurants and bars, which had TV sets that showed the match live, became venues for instant victory parties that continued until the morning.

Ghana's victory gives Africa its first FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy and was sweet revenge over Brazil, who had defeated the Satellites in the finals in 1993.

Samm Audu, Goal.com