Ghana’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) champions, Ampem Darkoa Ladies, on Thursday beat AS Garde Nationale of Niger 4-0 in their second Group B game at the WAFU Zone B Women’s Champions League taking place in Burkina Faso.
The win, their second at this competition, means the Ghanaian champions have qualified for the semi-finals of the competition ahead of their final group game.
While this is so far a good performance, Ampem Darkoa would have to win the semi-finals and the ultimate final game to claim the one spot from the zone to compete in this year’s CAF Women’s Champions League which will take place later this year.
On September 2, Ghana’s champions will play the semi-finals game against either Union Sportive des Forces Armées (USFA) of Burkina Faso or Togo’s Association sportive de la Kozah (ASKO).
Group hurdle to clear
However, before that semi-finals clash, Ampem Darkoa will represent Ghana in another clash with Nigeria when they meet tomorrow in the final group game.
On six points each, the two sides have qualified from Group B, having won their respective earlier games and will now have to slug it out to decide who tops the group and who finishes second.
Ampem Darkoa are second in the group with six points, garnered from their 1-0 and 4-0 wins against Cote d’Ivoire’s Asec Mimosa and Niger’s Association sportive de la Garde Nationale Nigérienne ( AS GNN) respectively.
The Nigerian champions, Edo Queens, on the other hand, top the group on goal difference, having won their games emphatically against AS GNN (7-0) and Asec Mimosas (3-1).
Tomorrow’s clash will thus not just be another rivalry between their countries, but an opportunity to implement their strategy to finish on top.
This is the first time the two sides are meeting in the competition, though Ampem Darkoa in 2023 played Nigeria’s Delta Queens in the final of that competition.
They lost that final 0-1 and the place to represent the zone at the main tournament, but they learnt valuable lessons which they believe would guide them in this encounter.
Motivated
The head coach, Charles Anokye Frimpong, who is leading the Techiman-based side to the competition, believes they have what it takes to pull the brakes on the free-scoring Edo Queens and top the group.
“There is always a motivation to go the extra mile when it is a Ghana-Nigeria clash and on Sunday, that will be the motivation for the girls.
“We have qualified for the semi-finals already regardless of the outcome of the final group game, but we will like to finish on top of our group just as we did when we played in the competition for the first time in 2023,” Coach Anokye, playing his first international competition said.
Parading a squad made up of some of the most experienced players, including Priscilla Okyere, Nancy Amoh as well as Milot Pokuaa who was signed on recently, Coach Anokye Frimpong is confident they will be able to scale the tricky Edo Queens’ hurdle.
In Group A game, USFA and ASKO will also slug it out to determine who top the group.
