COACH of the Black Queens of Ghana, Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo, believes her charges were more intelligent than Nigeria’s Super Falcons in Wednesday’s 2-0 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier.
Uchenna Kanu’s brace in the first half powered the Super Falcons past their West African foes at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena [formerly Onikan Stadium] Lagos.
Although Ghana showed a lot of promise, they were unable to get a goal as Onome Ebi marshalled the defence well, while Paris FC goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie made some crucial saves.
Notwithstanding the setback against Randy Waldrum’s women, Tagoe-Quarcoo is proud of her team’s showing, while shifting her focus to the reverse fixture.
“So far so good, I think we played well, tactically we were very disciplined, and we came to play football,” the legendary Ghana player told the media.
“Unfortunately, the Nigerians were stronger and tougher than we were, but when it comes to intelligence, we were far ahead of them.
“When you are playing an away game, it’s not easy, so we are going back to the drawing board to correct our mistakes. We are going back home and waiting to receive [the Super Falcons].”
The Black Queens could have leaked in more goals, albeit, the hosts’ strikers were unable to convert begging chances that came their way.
Prior to this fixture, Ghana had visited Lagos for last month’s Aisha Buhari Cup where they ended their campaign on a disappointing note.
They would be hoping to turn the tables around in the reverse fixture billed for the Accra Sports Stadium this Sunday for a berth in the Morocco 2022 AWCON.
Unlike the Black Queens who missed the biennial African showpiece in 2012 (Equatorial Guinea), nine-time African queens Nigeria have not missed an edition since its inception in 1991.