October 25, (THEWILL) – Despite beating Nigeria 1-0 in Accra on Sunday, Ghana was eliminated from qualifying for the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON).
In the first round second leg, Princella Adubea scored the only goal, but the Black Queens lost 2-1 on aggregate due to the Super Falcons’ 2-0 home victory in the first leg in Lagos.
Nigeria, the defending AWCON champions, therefore secured a place in the second and final round of qualifiers for the final tournament in Morocco.
Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo, the Ghanaian head coach, largely kept faith with the starting lineup from the first leg, giving starts to Portia Boakye of Djurgardens and Adubea and Grace Asantewaa of Spain.
As expected, Barcelona attacker Asisat Oshoala led the Nigerian team, which included the experienced duo of Osinachi Ohale and Onome Ebi.
Ghana started on the front foot, creating a series of chances that went begging due to poor finishing and naivety in front of goal.
Randy Waldrum’s ladies chose to sit back and wait for opportunities as the hosts pushed numbers forward. But, even when these opportunities came, the Super Falcons, like the Black Queens, failed to deliver the winning strike.
When Adubea chest-controlled a ball over-the-top into the opposition penalty box in the 22nd minute, the Nigerian defence reacted well enough to prevent a final shot on goal.
After captain Portia Boakye delivered a long, searching ball from a deep free-kick, Gladys Amfobea saw a header collected coolly by goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Asantewaa broke into the Nigerian area with a minute to go before halftime, but goalkeeper Nnadozie pushed her shot over the bar.
At the other end, Oshoala outran her defender and went one-on-one with goalkeeper Fafali Dumehasi, who did an excellent job of thwarting the Barcelona forward’s attempt.
Ghana came back stronger after the break, scoring the game’s first goal through the sensational Adubea, who slotted home a through-ball from close range. The goal-scorer almost made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute, but her header, which had connected with a free-kick, hit the crossbar.
At this point, Ghana was clearly in command, with Nigeria pinned in their own half. Nnadozie was almost caught off guard off her line during one stressful moment when an attempted clearance went straight to the opponent.
The Black Queens were dealt a blow in the 65th minute when captain Boakye was sent off for a second bookable offence after fouling Oshoala on a counter-attack.
Glory Ogbonna was sent off in the 75th minute for a reckless challenge on Naomi Animah, giving the Nigerians a numerical advantage for only 10 minutes. In the 83rd minute, Nigeria had a chance to get the equaliser when Oshoala beat her marker to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the striker failed to beat the sharp Dumehasi for the second time.
When Adubea hit a shot across the face of goal with five minutes to go, Ghana almost went 2-0 up, but striker Vivian Opoku Konadu failed to apply the crucial finishing touch, letting the Falcons off the hook.
The referee’s whistle blew after an injury-time goal-mouth scramble in which Ghana hit the crossbar once more in what was the game’s final significant action. The Falcons had lost but qualified for the next round on the aggregate advantage of their initial 2-0 first leg win.
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.
