Ghana Black Queens coach, Yussif Basigi has admitted his charges will be the overwhelming underdogs when they face ‘Les Lionnes’ of Cameroon on Saturday in Yaounde, in the third round first leg of the 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers.

Basigi however, says the Queens are taking inspiration from their underdog status as they seek a maiden qualification to the biggest global sporting showpiece to be hosted by Brazil.

He told Cafonline.com just before the team emplaned for the Cameroonian capital “It is good we are the underdog in this meeting. It serves our agenda very well because it will motivate us even further to come out of the match with results that will put the spotlight on us.

“It is also good for our confidence because it reduces the pressure on us and we find that very helpful. I monitored Cameroon during their time at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, recently and they were very impressive.

“We travel to Yaounde under no illusions about their strength and quality. But we can take it. It is our decision to approach the match in a tough manner because we want the result and we also want the world to know how we have been working hard for an opportunity to qualify to the Olympic Games for the first time”.

Ghana bid farewell at the same stage of the qualifiers four years ago, after a 2-2 tie on aggregate was enough for Ethiopia to advance on the away goal rule.

‘Les Lionnes’ reached the last 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada on their first attempt, having won twice and lost one at the group phase, before exiting after a lone goal loss to former champions, China.

Basigi’s Queens will be without midfielder Elizabeth Addo who scored in the last match against Egypt and injured forward Faiza Ibrahim but insists they have enough depth to push their agenda of advancing at the expense of the host.

“The team will be without Addo and Ibrahim but we still have enough quality. Samira Sulemana and Linda Eshun (both playing in Iceland) have joined and we planned with both in mind. We also have been joined by Fathia Dramani who is getting on track and that is good news for our quality.

“We want to prove a point and the team is very self-motivated to do so. We all agree that qualifying to the Olympic Games is a big deal and must override everything and we want to make sure that happens. Now is the time,” Basigie concluded.

Both teams will meet in Accra in a fortnight for the reverse fixture.

In other fixtures, South Africa and Kenya will slug it out in Johannesburg with Zimbabwe playing away to Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan.

Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea will renew the rivalry between the two sides when they battle it out in Abuja.

The second leg matches will take place in a fortnight with the winners advancing to the final stage of the qualifiers.

Two teams will emerge to represent Africa at the final tournament from 3-20 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fixtures

Saturday, 18 July 2015

South Africa vs Kenya         15H00 Johannesburg

Cameroon vs Ghana           15H30 Yaounde

Nigeria vs Equatorial Guinea 16H00 Abuja

Sunday, 19 July 2015

Cote d’Ivoire vs Zimbabwe   15H00 Abidjan

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