Queens get Cameroun for AWC semis
Ghana's Black Queens' quest for their first Africa silverware remains on course after beating Mali 3-1 in their final Group B game last Saturday, at the on-going Africa Women's Championship (AWC) in Cameroun.
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Emphatic as the win was, it was not enough to help the country’s senior female team overtake Nigeria on top of the group, and they will, thus, have to play Group A winners, Cameroun, in the semi-final game in Yaounde tomorrow.
The Super Falcons on the other hand also have a semi-final date with South Africa at Limbe tomorrow evening, after beating Kenya 4-0 while the South Africans were 4-0 winners over Egypt in their final Group A game last Friday.
Goals from Linda Eshun (44th), Samira Suleman (67th) and Elzabeth Addo (78th) helped the Queens tame a stubborn Malian side who had come into this game confident of denying Ghana the chance to advance. And they almost succeded in the first half as they put the Queens under pressure with a more effective game plan.
However, the Queens' experience counted when they needed it most, getting relief from a rare Eshun goal on the 44th minute before Suleman and Addo killed the game with two second half goals.
Basigi made tactical changes in the second half, pushing Suleman back upfront, keeping Portia Boakye to the left, by taking off Ibrahim for midfielder Mary Essiful, as well as Alice Kusi for Priscilla Okyere and finally, Priscilla Saahene for Juliet Acheampong, all intended to run more at the Malians who had done a good job at keeping Boakye and Addo from causing much trouble.
However, they could not hold them up for long as it was from Boakye's deep run on the left and beautiful pass in the final third that Suleman latched on and calmly put it past goalkeeper Samake Goundo to make it 2-0 for the Queens with her second goal in the Cameroun tournament.
Addo put the icing on the cake with the third goal when she converted a penalty after Maurtius referee Mara Rivet awarded the spot kick after she was fouled in the box. As she had done in the previous two games, Addo expertly converted it to also register her third goal in the competition.
The Queens were, however, unable to keep a clean sheet as the Malians tried to claw back and were rewarded with a consolation goal from a Binta Diarra strike with just two minutes to the end.
