Well, the experts got it right. True to prediction, Ghana and Brazil have emerged the most outstanding teams to meet in the final of the FIFA Under- 20 World Cup in Cairo on Friday. This is an exciting repeat of the 1993 final in Australia which saw Brazil running away with the cup after trailing Ghana 1-0 at half time.

Emmanuel Duah’s powerful header from an Arhinful cross had given Ghana a 12th minute lead but Brazil pulled even eight minutes after resumption through goalkeeper Ben Owu’s wrong anticipation.

Brazil’s winning goal came a minute to full time through a direct left footer by winger Yan. It was real stormy finish but generally most Ghanaians were unhappy with the Turkish referee’s harshness on the Ghana team; giving yellow cards at the slightest offence whilst ignoring several fouls by Brazil, especially on playmaker Odartey Lamptey.

Then a 16 nation tournament as compared to the current 24 teams, Ghana had placed second in the group stages with 4 points after a 1-1 draw with Uruguay, 2-2 draw with Germany and a 2-0 win over Portugal.

A splendid 3-0 win over Russia in the quarter finals pitched Ghana against England in the semi finals where Ghana won 2-1 to reach the final.

Brazil on the other hand, topped Group D with victories over Mexico and Turkey after drawing 1-1 with Saudi Arabia in the opening match .The quarter finals saw Brazil beating the USA 3-0 and dismissing Australia 2-0 in the semi-finals and as pointed out earlier, eventually winning the cup by beating Ghana 2-1.

It was an important victory for the young Brazilians and it inspired the seniors to win the FIFA World Cup the following year in the USA.Ghana was absent in the 1994 World Cup in the USA, but will this time be in South Africa 2010 with full force and what fans are asking is whether history will repeat itself. Your guess is as good as mine.

This year’s Under 20 show in Egypt has been a wonderful revelation for the future of football. Standard of play has been appreciably high and goal scoring has been a beauty to watch.

On paper, both Brazil and Ghana are evenly matched. Both teams cruised through the qualifying stages quite easily with such impressive wins like Brazil annihilating Costa Rica 5-0 and Ghana dismissing England 4-0 .But the knock-out stages proved a different ball game altogether with Ghana sweating profusely to beat South Korea 3-2 in the quarter final and another 3-2 win over Uruguay in the semis. The impression is that the defence can easily crumble under pressure and you have to be stubborn to sustain the Brazilian pressure pot.

Brazil also struggled to eliminate Germany in the quarter finals and had to fight back to earn a late equalizer and the ultimate winner in extra time. Is this an indication that the samba senors can be frustrated to abandon their free flowing game at times?

If anybody thought the 5-0 drubbing Costa Rica received from Brazil in the opening match would let them chicken out in the semis against the same Brazil, that fellow was mistaken. Costa Rica was a completely revived side and they met their South American mates boot for boot until that remarkable striker Alan Kardec got a stunning winner that reminded some of us the legendary Jairzinho of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup Dream Team.

Friday final is going to feature teams with identical styles and it looks like whichever side can tighten the defence better would carry the day.

The tournament has so far served as a wonderful prelude for South Africa 2010 and it is hoped CAN 2010 in Angola would be a further indication of what Africa can show in hosting its first FIFA World Cup.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.