The quest of the national Beach Soccer team, the Black Sharks to win a continental laurel in their second appearance at the CAF beach soccer tournament will be put to test when the team come off against former champions Ivory Coast in the open group A fixture on the 13th of December in Lagos.
The financially ailing Sharks made it to the tournament after a convincing two-legged victory over the Harambee Stars of Kenya.
The Sharks who are yet to start training for the tournament will be hoping to put up a better performance than they did in their maiden edition as the seek to come out of a group that has host nation Nigeria and North African highest ranked side, Egypt and powerhouse Ivory Coast.
To have a realistic chance of making it to the semi final of the 8-team tournament, the Black Sharks would have to overcome the challenges of Ivory Coast (13th December) Egypt (14th December) before squaring it off with hosts Nigeria 24 hours later.
The Black Shark who would be regarded as underdogs in the group will be hoping to upset the big boys to secure a ticket to the 2017 Beach Soccer Cup in the Bahamas.
The format for the AFCON is such that the round robbin group winners and runners-up advance to the semi finals where the two winners from the semis will qualify for the World cup.
Formed in 2013, the Sharks have done incredibly well to merit a 7th position in Africa and 47th worldwide. There will be huge pressure on Ghana to excel after an impressive debut tournament in Seychelles.
