Ghana's Black Queens are relishing a date with President John Dramani Mahama and the only way they can do that is to win the African Women's Championship (AWC) title for the first time.
The Queens have been in Namibia for the past 10 days, fine-tuning their final preparations for the big kick-off of the 2014 AWC in Namibia on Saturday, with their opening game against Algeria.
They are focused on taking a game at a time, the honour of perhaps, dining with the President of the land, also lurks in the shadow as an additional motivation for the Queens who are making their eighth appearance at the event.
Coach Yussif Basigi, the head coach of the Queens told the Graphic Sports in an exclusive interview from their Namibia base that, they were ready for the competition, determined to qualify for the 2015 Women's World Cup and ultimately win the trophy which had eluded them since 1998, for the first time but, "our cherished dream is also to have a date with President Mahama."
According to Coach Basigi, despite being the first to qualify for the senior World Cup, the Queens, by their second fiddle status to Nigeria at AWC, have never had the chance in recent times to interact with the President and they always watch with glee when the Black Stars and other national teams and sports personality who excel at the international level are given that 'presidential treat.'
"Most people would think it is trivial, but it is something that the players talk about and they have not hidden their desire to have such a previleged.
And the only way to do that, is not to qualify for the WWC or reach the final, but it is to win the AWC title," he said.
After 10 days in Namibia, acclimatising to the unfriendly weather, as well as fine-tuning the final preparations, Coach Basigi last week named his final sqaud for the tournament, describing his final pick as "having the desire, hunger and mentality to execute our plan for Namibia 2014."
The Queens in Group B, also tagged the Group of Death, play Algeria on Saturday, then face South Africa on October 15 and the final group game against Cameroun on October 18.
