Ghana got their preparations for the FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament off to a good start when the Black Starlets beat Haiti 3-0 in an 8-nation mini pre-competition tournament.

The 8-nation mini pre-competition tournament hosted by Korea Republic seeks to prepare the qualified nations from the globe for the FIFA U-17 World Cup and also mark as a dress rehearsal for the tournament with only two months to go before the start of the competition.

Ghana took on Haiti in Group A at the Goyang stadium on Saturday and came out tops courtesy a hat-trick by attacker, Ransford Osei.

Osei scored first from a header before getting the second and third goals from spot kicks all before the end of the first half to seal victory for Ghana who play Brazil next on Monday.

The competition is expected to offer Ghana team coach, Frederick Osam Duodu an opportunity to assess his team before the finals of FIFA U-17 World Cup in two month time at the venues used for the mini-competition.

After the group stage, the two runners-up will play off for third place, before the group winners face each other for the title in Cheonan on Saturday, 23 June.

Eight-nation U-17 tournament

Group Stage

16-21 June 2007

Group A (Goyang, Suwon, Cheonan) Korea Republic Brazil Haiti Ghana

Group B (Gwangyang, Changwon, Ulsan) Japan USA New Zealand Nigeria

Third Place Play-off 23 June 2007 Between the runners-up in groups A & B

Final 23 June 2007 Between the winners of groups A & B