November 12, (THEWILL) – Malabo Kings’ late equaliser against AS Mande earned them a semifinal berth over Wadi Degla in the ongoing Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women’s Champions League.
Bassira Toure scored an early goal for AS Mande in the second minute, and Malabo Kings came close to equalising late in the first half with a goal by Drepoba Stephanie Gbogou that was cancelled.
Malabo earned the point they needed to advance alongside Hasaacas Ladies, thanks to Mary Lynda Abossolo’s late goal.
Fatoumata Diarra, the AS Mande forward who was named the Woman of The Match, said: “Every kind of wining gives us motivation, though we said goodbye to the tournament, we spoke to each other and did our best.
“We’ll prepare for the next tournament as this is not an ordinary one, it’s a high-level tournament”.
Her coach, Abdramane Maiga, said: “We had a good match today and we had a chance to qualify. We knew from the start how difficult this match would be, specially with the strong physiques the other side has.
“I’m proud of my players and how they played; they performed well against a very good side and we showed our abilities.This tournament is an honorable image for women’s football, it will grow even more and be more successful in the future”.
Malabo Kings coach, Ruben Garcia Gallego, had a few things to say too.
He said: “We started off in a bad way, but we got back to the game in the second half. We could not take advantage of the chances we had but we thank god as the win is what’s important. We are not very used to this stadium, but we started to get used to everything.
“Next match will be more difficult, and we’ll try to perform better. This is the first edition, yet the tournament is going very well until now. We are very happy with the high levels of the clubs playing here”.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
