All not lost for Princesses
Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani has described as painful, his side’s loss to New Zealand after the Black Princesses conceded an 88th minute goal, but he insists all is not lost for Ghana’s young ladies as they have two more matches to honour in Group C.
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After dominating proceedings for a longer spell, substitute Tayla Christensen broke the hearts of the Princesses with her late goal, denying the Princesses a point from their opening game, and now compelling them to aim for wins in their remaining Group C matches against France and USA respectively.
Tomorrow, the Princesses will have to bounce back to revive their dream of making it past the group stage for the first time and while it looks a tall order, Didi Dramani says it is “possible.”
“Of course, it hurts that we blew our chances against New Zealand failing to do what was most important after dominating, but that match is over and there is no need brooding over that loss, we now have to focus on the games against France and USA.
“We find ourselves in a tight corner and we have to figure our way out. We will make sure of that,” Dramani said in an interview.
Getting out of that situation may be nothing new to Dramani, given that he encountered a similar situation when he led Ghana’s Under-17 side to their historic bronze medal winning feat in Azerbaijan in 2012.
Then, the Maidens lost the opening game to Germany but recovered against Uruguay and China to advance and while the circumstances may be different, Coach Dramani believes they can still draw inspiration from that tournament to motivate them in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as most of the players who featured in Azerbaijan are in the current Princesses team.
The Princesses are the only side without a point in Group C after France and USA played a goalless draw and thus make the stakes in the remaining games higher as the two heavyweights, both former champions will be keen to claim their first three points to ease the pressure going into the final group games.
Ghana’s starting line up against New Zealand: Victoria Agyei Antwi, Kate Adu-Agyemang, Berlinda Anane, Ernestina Abambila, Faustina Ampah/Rita Darko, Safia Abdul Rahman, Lily Niber-Lawrence, Rasheeda Abdul Rahman (captain), Wasila Diwura-Soale/ Fatima Alhassan, Sandra Owusu-Ansah, Jane Ayieyam/Veronia Appiah.