Ghana’s Black Queens beat the Super Falcons of Nigeria 1-0 in the second leg of the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations at the Accra Sports Stadium, yesterday.
The win was, however, not enough to turn around a 2-0 deficit from the first leg played in Nigeria on Wednesday as the Queens failed to qualify to next year’s continental showpiece with a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
It was an inspiring performance from the Ghanaians who dominated the game but was unlucky to find the back on the net just once courtesy an excellent strike from Princella Adubea in the 47th minute.
Both teams also had to end the game with 10 women as Black Queens skipper Portia Boakye was sent off in the 65th minute after a second booking while Ogbonna Glory also went out in a similar fashion in the 74th minute.
The Black Queens started the game on a bright note with the intention of finding an early goal as Adubea and Naomi Anima threatened the goal area of the Nigerians.
The Super Eagles sat back and occasionally attempted to utilize their counter- attack threat with Asisat Oshoala as the arrowhead to punish the Queens but goalkeeper Fafali Dumehasi was equal to the task.
The Black Queens came back stronger in the second half and immediately found the goal just within two minutes of resumption.
The goal gave the Queens a huge boost as they went all out to get another goal to cancel the deficit and probably find the winner.
The pressure nearly paid off in the 61ST minute but Adubea’s header hit the crossbar, much to the relief of the Super Falcons.
Their rhythm however suffered a setback after Boakye’s red card in the 65th minute as the Nigerians attempted to use their numerical advantage to finish them off.
Luckily for Ghana, the Nigerians also went down by a woman in the 74th minute.
The Queens then reorganized and continued to press in search of another goal with Adubea missing a glorious chance in the 84th minute with her shot going inches across the face of goal with no one to tap in.
They also had few chances in the dying minutes but the Nigerians were resolute and managed to end the game without conceding the vital second goal.
BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE
