The friendly encounter which was used to open the Accra Sports Stadium after several months of renovation was the last preparatory match for both countries before the start of the tournament.
Ghana who are the host and one of the favourites for the tournament thrilled their fans on Sunday evening as they defeated Bayana Bayana of South Africa by a single goal scored by the ever exciting striker Samira Suleiman in the 21st minute of the game.
It was a period of constant pressure Ghana put on the South African defense which resulted in a corner kick. Captain Elizabeth Addo converted the kick expertly to the direction of Samira who slotted home with a beautiful header.
The second half of the game presented both coaches the opportunity to change tactics and introduce new players into the field to assess their performance. However, the changes didn’t make much difference as the game ended 1-0 in favour of the Black Queens of Ghana.
There was a presumably good spectatorship at the match as some fans expressed their happiness about the performance of the team while others expected more from the Ghanaians.
Coach Bashir Hayford has clearly ensured to bring a telepathic understanding between the players as they seem to understand the 4-3-3 system being deployed.
However the problem is the over-exaggeration on the ball. From close observation, there’s a rapt cohesion between the defense and the midfield which really makes it easy for them to connect with the attacking trio of Samira Suleiman, Sherifatu Sumaila and Priscilla Okyere.
In defense, special mention can be made of Linda Eshun whose performance and link up play with the attackers is extraordinary on the left flank.
In midfield, captain Elizabeth Addo can be trusted to control and dictate the pace of the game as she is endowed with the ability to hold on to the ball brilliantly and create all sort of problems for the opposition.
In attack, Sherifatu Sumaila has proven over the years to be very reliable as her pace, dribbling and good decision-making upfront is a big plus to the team.
The major challenge a lot of fans however bemoaned over was the goalkeeping department where the first choice goalie Dumehasi Fafali was jittery and mostly found fumbling on a number of occasions. Her inability to kick the ball deep in opposition half will prove to be a big problem when they face a side that can take advantage of such mishit.
Also, her anticipation of aerial balls are questionable as well as the difficulty in catching the ball once. These are factors the coach must look into, with few days to the tournament.
Another player a section of spectators pointed fingers at was the right back Gladys Anfobea who played exceptionally well but her loss of concentration a number of times and failure to track back to defend, caused problems for the team.
Unlike previously where we saw the Queens just ballooning the ball away to opposition half, coach Bashir Hayford has succeeded in grooming the players to start attack from the back, putting the ball on the turf, finding players in spaces and creating scoring opportunities.
It must be noted that on a very good day, Ghana should have won the game by more goals because of the glaring chances they created but failed to convert. The other side of the coin is true because if they had faced a much swifter opposition, they would have conceded quite a number of goals as the defense looked shaky on a few occasions.
With the support of the Ghanaian fans that will be trooping to the stadium, it will offer an extra motivation for the players to put in extra effort to fly the flag of Ghana very high.
Perhaps, if anyone had doubt about the Black Queens’ ambitions for the tournament, the match against South Africa has nullified all doubts and the populace is fully behind the ladies.
Most local fans have sincerely admitted to the fact that the Super Falcons of Nigeria, who are the defending champions, are the only obstacle to Ghana’s hopes of clinching the Africa Women Cup of Nations for the first time this year.
Ghana will kick start their campaign with the opener against Algeria on Saturday at the Accra Sports Stadium.
(Credit to 442gh.com for the photos)
By: Edward Kyei Frimpong
Email: Eddybless200@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment