Black Queens coach hails team’s resilience …despite losing Paris 2024 Olympic ticket

The Head Coach of the senior women’s na­tional team, the Black Queens, Nora Hauptle, has praised the resilience of the team despite the loss to Zambia in their second leg Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifier.

The Black Queens on Wednes­day suffered a 4-3 aggregate defeat in the penultimate fixture of the Olympic Games qualifiers after they were held to a 3-3 draw in Ndola by the Copper Queens.

This was after the Zambians had posted a 1-0 win over the Ghanaians in Accra, last Friday.

Coach Hauptle’s side went into Wednesday’s game determined to ‘steal’ qualification from the jaws of the Zambians.

However, it was the home team that took an early lead through skipper, Barbara Banda, on the 11th minute only for Gifty Assi­fuah to restore parity 11 minutes later.

Back from the interval, Doris Boaduwaa netted with a sublime strike to give Ghana a 2-1 advan­tage, only for Kabange Mupopo to draw the host level.

Substitute Azumah Bugre put Ghana back in front on 64 min­utes with a long strike before her side was reduced to 10 following a second yellow card to Jennifer Cudjoe.

Banda drew her side level with a 97th minute strike, ending the Black Queens’ quest for a historic first Olympic appearance.

Speaking after the game, Coach Hauptle applauded the team’s fighting spirit, noting that they gave the Zambians a good run for their money.

“In the last minute, my team was brave, my team was playing football, my team was fighting and I cannot blame them at all for the results. It is very difficult for us to take but what we have to do now is to take the positives from this fixture to make us better in our next game.”

Yes, we are disappoint­ed, but I do not blame my team, a lot of things went wrong, we just need to learn and get more of these high-pro­file games to be able to become even better, she told the media after the game.

The Swiss further stated that the squad was made up of very fantastic, young, and hungry talents who needed guidance to grow their game and that was what she was ready to offer them going forward.

With the Olympic qualifier out of the way, Coach Hauptle is now shifting attention to the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) which comes off in Morocco later in the year.

 BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY

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