Ghana to train in Italy for FIFA U-20 World Cup

Ghana's U-20 team, the Black Satellites, are riding high on confidence for the impending FIFA world youth championship in Turkey later in the month.

Black Satellites, as they are known, left for Novora, Italy, Wednesday night, to prepare for the tournament, reports Xinhua.

Head coach Sellas Tetteh has named a provisional list of 27 players for the training tour ahead of the youth World Cup which begins on June 21 in seven Turkish cities. The team is expected to play a series of friendly matches in their four-day camp in Italy.

They will later be joined by Inter Milan's Alfred Duncan, as well as Richmond Boakye-Yiadom and Baba Abdul Rahman, who are both currently with the senior side, the Black Stars, in Ethiopia preparing to face Sudan and Lesotho in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

From Italy, the team will leave for Switzerland where they are also expected to play several warm-up games against yet-to-confirmed sides before the final 21-man squad will be announced prior to the team's departure to Istanbul, Turkey, for the tournament.

The Black Satellites, who won the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt after defeating Brazil on penalties, reached the finals in Turkey after finishing second in the African Youth Championship in March, this year.

Ghana are in Group A alongside France, the United States and Spain. Ghana will begin its campaign at the World Cup with an opening match against the Les Bleuets of France at the Ali Sami Yen Arena in Istanbul on June 21 before fixtures against Spain and the US.