Audio By Carbonatix
Ghana’s Black Queens' dream of making a first Olympic Games appearance has once again been halted by Nigeria’s Super Falcons, courtesy a 0-2 defeat in their penultimate qualifier played on Saturday.
Nigeria scored a goal in each half to qualify for the Beijing Games on superior goals difference.
Both Ghana and Nigeria finished on nine points each, with the Queens needing only a draw before the game to book qualification.
The Nigerians have already made two appearances at the Olympics, but were eliminated in the first round on both occasions.
The Queens, who had their fate in their hand, did not impress and allowed the host, who needed all points to make a third appearance, to dominate throughout the game.
Nigeria’s dominance, as well as the poor officiating by the Ugandan referee Aisa Mabikko paid off after 38 minute through a dubious goal that infuriated the visitors.
Goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana had pulled incredible saves to keep Ghana in the game until referee Mabikko got to the height of her poor judgement by ignoring a foul on Memunatu and a few seconds later overlooked a handball that would have gone against Nigeria in the Ghanaian area.
Africa’s female number one player, Cynthia Uwak capitalised on the referee’s errors to score the first goal, sending the handful chanting supporters at the stadium into wild celebration.
The Queens, who had struggled to put their game together, had their spirit dampened by the goal and only managed to survive several assaults for the rest of the first half by the charged Falcons with play makers Perpetual Nkwocha and Ifeanyi Cheijine firmly controlling affairs from the middle.
The Queens, after recess nearly got the equalizer through an initiative by skipper Adjoa Bayor, who neatly picked out Anita Amankwaah in the middle.
Amankwah took a fine half volley that forced Nigeria’s goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi to make her first serious save.
But the Falcons were to return to their dominance, buoyed by the cheers from the fans and pressed until the second goal came through Uwak with less than five minutes to end the game.
Ghana would now play Brazil in a play-off to determine who qualifies to the quadrennial games.
LINE –UP, Memunatu Sulemana, Portia Boakye, Ama Saabi, Olivia Amoako, Aminatu Ibrahim, Lydia Ankra, Florence Okoe, Adjoa Bayor/Safia Abdul Rahman, Rumanatu Tahiru/Diana Ankomah, Anita Amankwah, Gloria Oforiwaa.
Source: GNA
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
Myanmar ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest, military says
33 minutes -
Violence in Australian town after arrest of man over girl’s murder
43 minutes -
King arrives in Bermuda after ending US trip with visit to small town America
54 minutes -
Trainee driver crashes bus into River Seine
1 hour -
UK terrorism threat level raised to severe after Golders Green attack
1 hour -
Twitch streamer hit by car live on camera – ‘It felt like slow motion’
1 hour -
OpenAI tells ChatGPT models to stop talking about goblins
2 hours -
US official says Iran war truce ‘terminated’ hostilities for war powers deadline
2 hours -
Trump to remove whisky tariffs after King’s visit
2 hours -
Oscar goes missing after Academy Award winner is blocked from taking it on flight
2 hours -
Trump signs bill to end record shutdown over immigration enforcement
2 hours -
Former Chick-fil-A employee charged in $80,000 mac-and-cheese scheme
4 hours -
China scraps tariffs for all but one African nation
4 hours -
Man Utd can win Premier League next season – Mount
4 hours -
Mainoo signs new Man Utd deal until 2031
5 hours