Ghana's Black Starlets this morning drew 1-1 with the host nation, Peru in the second Group A fixture at the FIFA U-17 World Championship Peru 2005.

A crowd numbering some 25,000 saw a furious opening featuring a seventh-minute red card for Ghana's Mubarak Wakaso after a touchline foul on Carlos Flores.

Just minutes later, Ghanaian goalkeeper Nana Bonsu upended Peru striker Jesus Rey in the box.

Daniel Chavez stepped up to convert from the spot as the crowd erupted to hail the hosts' opener.

The Ghanaian struggled to recover after that goal with their style of play producing no clear cut chances.

Coach Duncan reshuffled his side to compensate for the sending off, withdrawing striker George Appiah and introducing defender Jonathan Quartey to stiffen the defence.

Peru continued to hold the initiative, but Ghana clawed their way back into it and created their first chance as captain Emmanuel Ansong burst forward only for his 17th minute effort to clear the bar.

The first half closed with a flurry of action as Sadat Burkari fired over the bar before David Telfer and Tagoe conjured up a golden opportunity for Samad Oppong, just inches short of connecting at the far post.

Peru's first chance after the restart felt to Miguel Cardenas but Bonsu maintained his fine form and pushed the goal-bound effort round the post.

The Ghanaians settled now and began sporadically troubling the Peruvian rearguard, but the hosts coached by José Pavoni still enjoyed the lion's share of the chances.

Luck smiled on the Starlets as they were gifted an equaliser after an hour, Miguel Cardenas putting through his own goal from an attempted clearance.

However, the hosts regained the initiative in the closing quarter of an hour. Bonsu tipped Carlos Flores' 70th minute drive over the bar and the Africans held on for the draw, thus maintaining an impressive record of seven FIFA U-17 World Championship opening matches without defeat.

The first group A game between China and Costa Rica ended in a 1-1 draw. All four Group A teams lie dead level in the standings with the same number of points and goals.


After the game Ghana coach David Duncan said he wasn’t satisfied with the result.

"I reckon it was a very harsh red card. I'm not even sure it was worthy of a booking, because my player went for the ball.

“I can't honestly be satisfied with the result because we came here looking to win.

“Every team has exactly the same prospects for the next round of games, it's as if the tournament was starting again from scratch," Ghana coach David Duncan commented afterwards.