The Black Queens opened the 2016 African Women’s Nations Cup in Cameroon with a 3-1 win over Kenya at the Stade Municipal Limbe stadium on Sunday night.
Ghana had to come from a goal down to register their superiority over their Group B counterparts.
Below is what the two coaches had to say after the game.
Yusif Basigi (Head Coach, Ghana)
As I said earlier, any team at this competition is worthy of being crowned champion and don’t have to be underrated. I had not seen Kenya play and their determination was different. But we did not underrate them.
We started well in the first five minutes and had a goal disallowed. It turned on us and they had a goal and it boosted their confidence. The opener dawned on my players. During recess, I talked to them and brought them back to life.
Ghana – Nigeria is always a different ball game. They massacred Mali 6-0 but it doesn’t mean that they will massacre Ghana. Let the day comes and we will see what happens.
David Ouma (Head Coach, Kenya)
I congratulate my players on their debut match at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. It was a fantastic moment and getting the first goal too. I congratulate Esse Akida for scoring Kenya’s first goal in the history of the competition.
Any coach would like to be in the position of Ghana’s coach. My girls threw in everything and live to fight another day. We will go back and analyse our performance. Critical moments decide a game and I think we deserved some critical moments. We had our chances, pushed very hard and reached some moments, but it was not for us.
My players did not lack concentration. We had good moments to utilize our chances. It is a learning moment. We have to belief. We’ve got the experience.
