Canada 2014 is Ghana's third participation in the Under-20 Women's World Cup, and like the old adage, they hope to be third time lucky.
In the two previous competitions, the Princesses failed to go past the group stage, so close on their debut in 2010 but they lost out to South Korea on goal aggregate and a very bad record in 2012 when they exited the group stage, losing all their matches, as well as failing to score a goal.
Having had the opportunity, the Black Princesses would want to have a more memorable tournament where for the first time, they expect to advance to the quarter-finals.
Qualifying for Canada 2014 was quite a cagey affair for the Princesses as their opponents for the earlier qualifying stages all withdrew, starting from Guinea Bissau in the preliminary round, followed by Egypt and Guinea Bissau, both of who withdrew as the winnner of their encounter was to play Ghana in the second round.
Thankfully, Equatorial Guinea, the opponents for the final round, did not pull out and, thus, presented the newly assembled Princesses with the chance to test their strength.
Unfortunately, they lost the first leg 0-1 in Malabo but a Grace Adams’ goal in the second leg in Accra sent the game into penalty kicks, which the Princesses held their nerves to win 4-3.
With a team built around the graduates of the Under-17 team that won bronze in Azerbaijan, as well as a number of the 2012 Japan squad, this Princesses team boast of both experience and exposure which, no doubt, will be useful in Canada. Most of them have experience gained from as far as 2008, when they competed in the first FIFA Under-17 tournament.
On their third appearance, they hope not just to improve their record, but also make it to the quarter-finals. Their best result at this tournament is their 1-1 draw against the USA and their 2-0 win over Switzerland in Group A on their debut at Germany 2010.
Like most Ghana national teams, the strength of the Princesses lie in the midfield, made up of almost all the first team players of Azerbaijan 2012. Then captain Priscilla Okyere, Rasheeda Abdul-Rahman, Fatima Alhassan are all in the team, just as the disciplined rear to be manned by the likes of Grace Adams, Edem Atovor and Ellen Coleman.
Cynthia Boakye Yiadom, Alice Eva Danso, Veronica Appiah and Faustina Ampah also return from the Japan 2012 group.
Coach Bashir Hayford, who makes a World Cup debut, has carefully stressed on a cohesive, as well as an attacking-minded team, and hopes the pain and time invested in the team over the past six months, will yield results in Canada.
His assertion in an interview sums up the team's expectation in Canada: "We have never gone past the group stage so we are eager to improve that record. Beyond that, we want to also have a taste of the quarter-finals. We dream to go all the way, but we will take it a game at a time as this is football and your wishes are not always granted. We will put in all the hard work and we pray and hope it pays off.”
