President John Atta Mills has hailed the Black Satellites for their unprecedented World Cup triumph in the national U-20 tournament.

The president has, however, ruled out any holiday and is advising great caution as Ghanaians revel in the historic victory of the Satellites.

The Black Satellites won Gold Friday night in dramatic fashion, playing for over 86 minutes with 10 men against Brazil in an epic final of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt that produced no goal after regulation and 30 minutes of extra time.

Central defender Daniel Addo was shown the exit as early as the 38th minute from a needless but harshly punished tackle, leaving his colleagues to do battle for the rest of the half, the second half and 30 minutes extra time. Two additional minutes were played at the end of the first half, plus three more at the end of the second.

Against these odds however, the Satellites remained focused and overcame the South American giants.

Passing his first comment on the momentous achievement in an interview with Joy FM, President Mills said he was extremely delighted and that “the boys need to be congratulated and commended on their wonderful performance.”

He said knowing too well what the Ghanaian was capable of, in the face of adversity, he was not perturbed when the team played with a man less than the Brazilians.

“…In the face of adversity, Ghanaians will rise up to the challenge. So I knew that in the end, Ghanaians will prove their worth and they have.”

Would he declare a holiday?

“No, no, no we’re not going to declare Monday a holiday. I think that we should go to work and then show people that with hard work and determination, we can move this country forward in the right direction. If you have holidays, normally they will also detract from the quality of life that we want Ghanaians to enjoy, we want everybody to spend their time profitably. So we’ll go to work on Monday but we will give praise to these boys, give praise to the technical handlers give praise to the GFA and above all give praise to God,” he told Joy Sports’ Ernest Koranteng.

Asked how he intends to celebrate the great victory, President Mills said he plans to go about his duties as he has always done, however whenever he is downhearted for any reason, he would remember that the Under 20s have won. “That will cheer me up. That will give me I believe the fillip, the stimulus for my work next week. It is a good beginning and a good beginning for things to come.”

Indeed on Thursday, he had prayed for victory for the Satellites, and added that the senior team, the Black Stars, would win the World Cup in South Africa to cap it all. This was during a reception he hosted at the Osu Castle Gardens in Accra to receive the World Cup trophy on its tour of the world under the auspices of FIFA and Coca-Cola.

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