Queens set eyes on WAFU trophy
The desire to be the first to win the trophy other than revenge will be the motivating factor when Ghana's Black Queens play Cote d'Ivoire in the final of the WAFU Zone B women's tournament this evening.
Revenge because the hosts beat the Queens 1-0 in their opening game, while the Ivorians also lost by the same margin when they clashed at the group stage of the 2015 All Africa Games.
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At a press conference yesterday, Cote d'Ivoire captain, goalkeeper Cinthia Djohore, said their desire was just to lift the trophy.
"In the men's edition, Ghana hosted and won, so why shouldn't we also be dreaming of hosting to win?
“We have beaten Ghana at the group stage and though football doesn't follow such logic, I think we can beat them again to make our dream complete," Djohore said.
Portia Boakye, the captain of the Queens, also said their mission was to win the trophy and that there was no turning back, having learnt their lesson from thier first defeat.
"We have resolved not to allow any side to deny us that glory of being the first team to lift the trophy.
"We know that WAFU President, Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, will present the trophy to the champions, so we are determined to receive it so that we can also present it to him as our FA president when we return to Ghana. It will be a moment of pride for all of us. "We have also said that we want to win it for our coach," she stressed.
Beyond the bragging rights, it is also historic for the two former players — Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo for Ghana and Clementine Toure for Cote d'Ivoire.
The two sides reached the final in a contrasting manner, but they have both showed quality in tactics and pattern ofplay.
The Ivorians beat Ghana 1-0, Niger 6-0, and drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso, before beating Mali 2-0 in the semi-finals.
The Queens, on the other hand, recovered from their initial slip to secure two emphatic wins against Niger (9-0) and Burkina Faso (4-1), before that significant 5-4 win on penalties against Nigeria after 1-1 in regulation time.
Nigeria and Mali will this afternoon play for third place, a clash which will also be a replay of their Group B opening clash won 1-0 by Nigeria.
