Andre Ayew led Ghana to glory at the African Youth Championship earlier this year and is keen to reproduce that feat as the Under-20s chase for a first World title.
Ghana, twice losing finalist at this level are hoping to lay their hands on the title at the 2009 World Youth Championship.
Fueled on by the desire to make it a double, Andre Ayew, captain of the Black Satellites believes the Ghana team needs to step up their performance.
The Black Satellites opened their quest with a 2-1 comeback win over Uzbekistan last Saturday. It was a hard fought victory.
Capped 15 times at senior level, Ayew, who is the son of Abedi Ayew Pele - one of the finest Ghanaian and African players of all time - admits the entire team needs to take responsibility.
"In some ways being captain means a lot - and in some ways it means nothing," he said.
"Wearing an armband doesn't mean that you're the best player and it in that sense it doesn't matter. What matters is playing well and helping your team-mates. Obviously I am very proud to be the captain of the U-20 side and I try to perform my role as best as I can.
"When I play for the Black Stars, we have leaders such as Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari, but now some of us, including myself, have to step up and take more responsibility. We have to show the others that we've gained experience from the senior team and in turn pass that on. I hope that this U-20 squad goes on to become the Black Stars in future years. I think we have the potential to do that," he told Fifa.com.
Still a Marseille player, Andre is currently on loan with Arles and is determined to improve his game with the chance of regular football.
"Going on loan has helped my career a lot," he continued. "I'm a player who wants to play and grow into the game. You've got to learn to know the grass, know the players, know your own game and what you can and can't do. You don't learn much from the substitute's bench. I just hope that these experiences will help me to become an important player for Marseille."
