In a quest to secure advancement to the next round of the Women’s Olympic Games Qualifiers, Ghana’s senior national women’s football team, the Black Queens, led by head coach Nora Häuptle, are preparing for a crucial rematch against Zambia.
The showdown is set to take place on Wednesday (28 February) at the Levy Nwanawasa Sports Stadium in Ndola, Zambia.
After experiencing a narrow 1-0 defeat in the initial leg held in Accra on Friday (23 February), the Black Queens are determined to reverse the outcome in their favor.
Despite acknowledging the setback, Coach Häuptle expressed confidence in her team’s performance, emphasizing their dominance on the pitch during the first encounter.
“We lost the game 1-0 in Accra, but we had a good performance on the pitch. When you look at the statistics, they were all on our side, and we deserved that. I think that’s how football goes sometimes,” said Häuptle, underscoring the team’s strengths and resilience.
With the upcoming match holding significant importance for their Olympic aspirations, Häuptle outlined the team’s strategy, highlighting the need to find their scoring touch. “We also have some plans for tomorrow, and it’s our approach to stabilizing the game; we need to score, and we are aware of that, and we will see tomorrow on the pitch what our plans are,” she remarked.
The Black Queens have demonstrated remarkable prowess throughout the Qualifiers, conceding only a single goal in five games while scoring an impressive total of 12 goals. A victory over Zambia could propel Häuptle’s side to the fourth round, where they might potentially face Morocco or Tunisia. Notably, Morocco holds a slight advantage following a 2-1 victory in their first-leg encounter.