The dream of Ghana's senior female football team, the Black Queens, of winning their first continental trophy came to an abrupt end last Saturday despite recording their first win at the African Women's Championship (AWC) being staged in Namibia.
An Elizabeth Cudjoe goal on the 52nd minute, secured the three points for the Queens against Cameroun, but it was not enough to push them into the semi-finals, as South Africa edged Ghana out on better goals, having beaten Algeria 5-1 in the other Group B game.
The Queens went into the game third position with just one a point and a negative goal difference with South Africa, both needed to win and score as many goals to be able to join Cameroun to the semi-finals. Even though they both won, South Africa's Bayana Bayana made it, courtesy their 5-1 win against Algeria which dwarfed the Queens' solitary win.
With a dream dashed and 2015 Women's World Cup (WWC) opportunity botched, the Queens are counting their loss, and ruing their scoring chances.
"We have ourselves to blame. It feels like nothing went right for us in Namibia. Suddenly, our goalscoring eluded us and we could not score goals as we did in our build up. And in football, it is all about goals, so once you are unable to score, then winning or realising your dream becomes an impossibility," Coach Yussif Basigi conceded in an interview.
Coach Basigi also admitted that the 0-1 loss to Algeria in the opening game cost the team.
"How a team starts is as important as how it finishes in a group contest. Unfortunately, we blew our chance against a team that were considered the 'easiest' in our group and we paid the ultimate price.
"It is very painful, but there is nothing we can do about it now. Perhaps, we will have to reflect on what went wrong, how we can build upon that and try to realise our dream another time," the obviously disappointed coach tried to sound optimistic.
That next opportunity will be in two years when the campaign for the 2016 AWC is launched.
Last Saturday's exit from the AWC at the group stage was the second for the Queens who failed to make it at the 2010 event and which also cost them a place at the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany.
Two years ago, they failed to qualify for the continental tournament, losing to Cameroun in the final qualifier.
