Andre Ayew has said he and his teammates were desperate to make history when they faced Brazil in the final of the 2009 U20 FIFA World Cup.
Ayew was the captain of the Black Satellites side that went unbeaten throughout the tournament in Egypt as they emerged champions 14 years ago.
The West Africans, led by Coach Sellas Tetteh, conquered all before them and defeated Brazil in the final.
Despite being reduced to 10 men early in the game, Ghana held on to win against the South American heavyweights on penalties.
Speaking about that special moment, Ayew admitted that Brazil were the best team at the tournament, so Ghana wanted to avoid facing them in the early stages.
He was, however, quick to add that the Black Satellites were motivated to beat them because they wanted to write their names into history.
“Ghana has a special history with Brazil when it comes to youth football. Even before my time, meetings between the two teams were always tense,” Ayew told FIFA.
“To be honest, we didn’t want to play the Seleçao in an earlier round as they were the best team in the tournament.
“In the final, it was a whole other story. We were aware that we could make history and didn’t want to let the chance pass us by. We told ourselves that there were only 90 or 120 minutes separating us from a world title.”
Ghana remains the first, and so far only, team from Africa to have won the U20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Ayew is currently the captain of the senior national team, the Black Stars.
