Björkegren impressed with Ghana after solid WAFCON mauling of Tanzania

Ghana women’s national team coach Kim Lars Björkegren expressed his delight with the display from his players after they produced a solid display to hammer Tanzania 4-1 and seal their place in the knockout stages of CAF Women’s Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.

The West Africans went into the final Group C fixture with their qualification chances hanging in the balance but they struck first through Princella Adubea, before Stumai Athumani put Tanzania level for a 1-1 outcome at the half-time break.

Ghana looked a more rejuvenated side in the second half and they regained control through a 63rd-minute penalty converted by Alice Kusi, before Evelyn Badu tapped home to make it 3-1, and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah put the result beyond doubt in stoppage time.

“I am just really proud of the girls. Today, we followed the game plan a little bit more. I always believed that we would win this game and make it to the quarterfinals. I understand the impact of the result. It is the knockout stages, and we continue to take it one game at a time,” said Björkegren as quoted by CAFOnline.

“Ghana missed the knockout stages the last time that they played [in 2018 at home] and we have now made it past the group stages. The result is very important to us. We shall take it all in now because the players deserve this. They showed that they can stay true to our style and win.”

Björkegren further praised Ghana’s qualification to the last eight to teamwork by saying: “We played as a team and this has been important for us on and off the pitch.”

Ghana, who finished second with four points, three less than group winners South Africa, will now face Algeria in the quarterfinals at Stade Municipal de Berkane on Saturday.