The head coach of the national U-20 women’s football team, Yusif Basigi says the Black Princesses will excel in the women’s football category of the 13th edition of the African Games to be hosted by Ghana in March.
A target to finish on top of the Group A table where they have Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia as opponents has been set.
The Black Princesses coach was sure that topping the group table would facilitate their progression in the competition and ultimate triumph.
“We want to finish on top of the group and then progress to the next stage and win the trophy. Our target is to win the trophy but if you don’t top your group you can’t think of advancing to win the trophy,” he told the Graphic Sports.
Tough opponents
Despite beaming with confidence about their chances in the competition, coach Basigi admitted that their group was a tough one considering the fact that his side had not encountered any of their opponents before.
“Our group is a very tough one because we have never played any of them before and that makes it tough because you don’t know their style of play but I am hopeful that we will excel Insha Allah,” he said.
“We know that Uganda are a very good side because they played a very good football against Senegal in the 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers but they couldn’t qualify. However, I can’t say much about the other teams,” he added.
While brooding about a tough Group A, he referred to those in Group B as play mates, having encountered them on countless occasions, expressing hope of delivering against any of them in the concluding stages of the competition.
The Group B fixtures will pitch the Falconets of Nigeria against their Senegalese, Cameroonian and Moroccan counterparts.
“As for those in Group B we have played them before and we know them so I can say that it will not be difficult facing them. We played Nigeria in the final of the 2023 WAFU Zone B U-20 Women’s Cup at Kumasi which we won, we have played Cameroon in qualifiers and we have also played friendly games with Morocco so we know them,” he said.
Preparation
On preparations, Coach Basigi mentioned that the team was already camping at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram and had begun undergoing certain training rudiments to ensure the target was achieved.
“We are already in camp. The time is so close and we can’t take chances. We have started playing friendly matches and we are training to assess our fitness as well as get the team in shape ahead of the African Games,” he revealed.
The 13th edition of the African Games will take place in Accra from March 8 to 24, 2024.
The African Games is a multi-sport contest geared towards advancing top-class African Sports and to foster cultural exchanges between the Member States of the African Union.
Other disciplines to be competed in include handball, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, teqball, volleyball and weightlifting.