With an eye on her lineups for the April 6-20 tournament in Jordan, coach Asako Takakura made multiple changes throughout the match against the Black Queens, including bringing veteran forward Nahomi Kawasumi off the bench for her first national team appearance since 2016.

Mina Tanaka put Japan ahead in the 14th minute, calmly beating Black Queens goalkeeper Patricia Mantey one-on-one after Rika Masuya had played her into the box with a deft through-ball.

The Black Queens equalized in the 25th minute on a solo effort by Jane Ayieyam, who pounced on a defensive mistake by Japan, hitting the woodwork with a header before scoring off the rebound.

Japan reclaimed the lead following a corner in the 28th minute after Mantey saved a close-range attempt by Tanaka, only to bat the ball toward Mana Iwabuchi, who scrambled the ball across the line.

Mantey stopped Japan extending the lead in the 42nd minute with a diving save off Iwabuchi, but the Nadeshiko added their third less than a minute later when Emi Nakajima made a break down the right side before laying off a cross for the oncoming Masuya, who blasted home from near the penalty spot.

Japan struck again less than three minutes into the second half, with Rin Sumida assisting on a goal by Nakajima. The Nadeshiko added a pair of goals in a three-minute span midway through the half, with Hikari Takagi and substitute Yuika Sugasawa finding the back of the net.

Kawasumi assisted on Japan’s seventh and final goal when she set up fellow World Cup winner Aya Sameshima with a cross in the 83rd minute.

The Women’s Asian Cup serves as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2019 World Cup in France, with the top five teams qualifying. Japan opens its Asian Cup campaign on April 7 against Vietnam in Amman.

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Source: Graphic Online

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Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo’s team defeated host Cote d’Ivoire 1-0 in the final to secure the victory.

Speaking at the ‘Meet the Press’ session in Accra on Tuesday; Sports Minister Isaac Asiamah said the financial package was government’s compensation for a good job done.

“The ministry has approved $32,000 for our Queens and from here, the chief accountant will pay their money to them,” he said.

“We appreciate their hard work and this is our way of saying thank you.”

Ghana will host the 2018 Women’s AFCON and the tournament formed part of preparations for the competition which kicks off in November.

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By: Fentuo Tahiru/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A second-minute strike from Janet Egyir was all it took for the 2015 All Africa Games champions to prevent the Ivorians from completing a ‘host-and-win’.

Having already met in the opening Group A match, the final game at the Robert Champroux Stadium was tipped to be an uncompromising encounter and it did.

Though barely had the whistle gone for kickoff that the Queens began harassing the Ivorians and the result was instant as Egyir finished off a rebound from an earlier freekick taken.

The Ivorians tried all they could to equalise and possibly win, but their efforts were thwarted by the resolute Queens side and not even four minutes of added time, during which the Ivorians earned two corner kicks could change the scoreline.

In addition to winning the trophy, the heroine of the day, Egyir, was adjudged the Best Player of the competition, while captain Portia Boakye won the Top Scorer’s prize with four goals and three assists.

Cote d’Ivoire’s captain, Cinthia Djohore won the Best Goalkeeper’s prize.

Nigeria Super Falcons earlier claimed third place with a 2-1 win over Mali.

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Source: Ghana FA

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10 years ago, on the 7th of February Ghana (host nation) bowed out of the African Cup of Nations to Cameroon in the semis.

You could hear a pin drop in Accra and and by extension, the whole country as the Cameroonians advanced to the final of the 2008 Afcon.

The dream of a ‘host and win’ was shattered and the then 26-year wait for a title counting. The count is still on.

In November this year, Ghana will host the entire of Africa again but this time, for the Women’s Afcon known as the Awcon.

It will be the first time the West African country is hosting the women’s football tournament. The agenda of a ‘host-and-win’ is clearly on the mind of all and sundry.

In Africa, Ghana is a powerhouse when it comes to Women’s football ranking and the general belief is that the nation is the 2nd best on the continent. They are only bettered by their huge nemesis Nigeria to whom they lost in three Women’s AFCON finals (1998,2002 and 2006).

The Black Queens are yet to win the AWCON trophy but they can count on the history that favours host nations.

Nigeria’s success in 1991, 1995, 1998, 2002, and 2006 all came at home while Equatorial Guinea’s two titles in 2008 and 2012 were won before their home crowd.

That should serve as enough inspiration to the Black Queens later this year but that will be challenging looking at the context of the women’s game in Africa.

Women’s football is run a bit differently on the continent as compared to the men’s game.

The system of a women’s league is now gaining grounds in Africa and international friendlies aren’t frequent or sometimes non-existent.

The road to a first Afcon title for Ghana will prove a tough nut to crack with teams like Nigeria,Cameroon all posing a threat to Ghana’s goal.

However, the Wafu tournament will be a silver lining for the Black Queens since it offers a nearly foolproof way of gauging the team’s level.

The 2018 Wafu Zone B tournament assures Ghana of at least three matches.

As a host nation, Ghana will not be playing in the qualifiers hence it gives the Black Queens technical team led by a former Black Queens player Mercy Tagoe Quarcoo a chance to assess the team’s weaknesses and strengths.

The competitive nature and physical toughness from some of the teams will give the technical handlers a fair idea of where the team ahead of the AWCON tournament in November.

In Group A, Ghana will be playing against the host nation Ivory Coast.The Ivorians made it to the last World Cup in 2015 and were actually the only African team to move past the group stages.

Although Burkina Faso and Niger may not be considered as power houses in women’s soccer the physical and athletic nature of these teams would be a great test for the Black Queens.

The possibility of facing Nigeria,is probably one great aspect of the tournament for the Black Queens.

Nigeria’s new coach Tomas Dennerby has downplayed the expectations from Super Falcons.

However a Ghana-Nigeria tie is all sorts of tantalizing on any day and should the clash happen it could give an opportunity for Ghana to identify dennerby’s tactical position.

Although the Swedish Coach opted for a youthful squad with the absence of star names like Asisat Oshoala and Esther Sunday, the encounter will still prove useful for the Black Queens in November when the Awcon tournament kicks off.

There is a new technical team in place for the Black Queens following a reshuffle in 2017.

The Wafu tournament gives the technical team the chance to gel and start preparations from scratch.

The departure of Didi Dramani as head coach means Mercy Tagoe Quarcoo will be the interim coach for the Queens.

The team’s performance at the regional competition if great could be a persuasive factor for her to get the jobs for keeps.

The 2018 Wafu Zone B tournament, which is an inaugural edition, provides the team a good stepping stone for Ghana’s host and win ambitions for the 2018 AWCON.

They better take it.

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Akosua Addai Amoo is a Sports Broadcast Journalist.You can follow her @akosuaamoo on twitter

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The match was to help the two teams prepare for various assignments: the Women’s AFCON in Ghana in 2018, and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019.

France started well and got their opening goal in the Ouleymata Sar in the 37th minute. That was how the first half ended.

Below are the goals from the match:

However, the gates opened in the second half and France found the net seven more times.

Amandine Henry, Viviane Asseyi and Eugenie Le Sommer all got braces on the night.

The loss was the second for the Black Queens in recent times in terms of friendlies played against European teams.

In 2016, they lost 11-0 to Germany in Paderborn in an international friendly.

The Ghanaians earned an appearance fee of 40,000 euros for their troubles.

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By: Citi Sports

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The bonuses which are an accumulation of a number of tournament qualifiers also include monies owed the Black Queens for their participation in last year’s African Women’s Championship in Cameroon.

According to Madam Addy, the failure of the state to honour the ladies for their effort and sacrifice dampens their morale.

“The three national teams for women are owed and it brings back the issue of motivation. We need to make sure we fulfill all these specifications and see the way forward because it will not motivate the girls if these monies are not paid and are overlooked. I believe the ministry is aware of how much they are supposed to pay the players and officials,” she said.

The Black Queens went on a much-publicized demonstration concerning unpaid bonuses at the tail end of last year, but that seems not to have worked.

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By: Daniel Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Ghana finished third in the tournament but the players are yet to be given bonuses from the tournament and from previous assignments.

The team met with GFA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi on Tuesday but no solutions to the non-payment were found.

They therefore decided to march to the Sports Ministry to get a solution to their problems. Black Queens forward Samira Suleman spoke to Citi Sports’ Daniel Koranteng and she said that the non-payments went back as far as two years ago.

“We have not received any monies not only for the 2016 African Women’s Nations Cup but also for the Rio 2016 Olympic Game qualifiers and the 2015 All-African Games. This problem really stretches back in time.”

For the All-African Games, the players were each given USD 5,000 in a temporary payment by President John Mahama after they complained of not being paid their bonuses for winning the gold medal in the football final against Cameroon.

The full compliment of their bonuses is yet to be paid to the team. The team is set to meet the Sports Minister on Thursday to discuss the issues.
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By: Daniel Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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At the start of the final group matches on Saturday, Nigeria, Ghana and Mali were all vying for the two semi-final places.

Nigeria started quickly against Kenya in Limbe and scored with their second attack after just two minutes of play as Ngozi Okobi fired home on her first start of the tournament.

Four minutes later, Nigeria doubled the lead as Faith Ikidi headed the ball into the top corner beyond the reach of Kenya goalkeeper Vivian Akinyi from a free-kick swung in from the left.

Kenya did not give up and did their best to push forward and had some chances from set-plays to threaten the Nigerian goal without really troubling keeper Alaba Jonathan.

But it was Nigeria who continued to create chances with Asisat Oshoala (pictured) looking dangerous as she looked to add another goal to the four she scored against Mali in the opening Group B match.

Kenya came out and did their best after the break and even dominated for a short period of time but it was Nigeria who extended their lead in the 53rd minute.Okobi pushed the ball into the area and Oshoala ran in behind the defence and calmly clipped the ball across the keeper into the net.

Officially, the Arsenal striker now has 6 goals at the tournament despite the goal against Ghana going in off Portia Boakye.

Nigeria’s fourth came in the closing minutes as Desire Oparanozie beat a Kenyan defender to fire home from the edge of the six-yard area.

In Yaounde, Mali created several scoring chances and Ghana were struggling to take control of the match but it was the Black Queens who took the lead just before half-time.

Linda Eshun hooked the ball over the head of the Mali keeper after the defence failed to deal with a ball in from the right.

Ghana doubled the lead as Portia Boakye raced onto a long through ball behind the Mali defence and she unselfishly set up Samira Suleiman who had the simple task of side-footing the ball home.

Ghana’s third came from the penalty spot as their only overseas-based player, Elizabeth Addo, who plays in Sweden, scored from the penalty spot for the third match in a row at the tournament.

Binta Diarra pulled a late goal back for Mali but it was not enough for the Lady Eagles.

Both semi-finals will take place on Tuesday with Group B winners Nigeria continuing the defence of their crown against South Africa in Limbe and Group B runners-up Ghana facing hosts Cameroon in Yaounde.

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Source: BBC

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