WAFCON 2024: Björkegren admits Ghana will face tough test against Mali

Photo Credit - Ghana Women National Teams

Ghana Women’s National Team head coach Kim Lars Björkegren has openly admitted that they will face a difficult task against Mali in their second fixture of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON at Stade Municipal de Berkane in Morocco on Friday.

The Black Queens will head into the Group C fixture smarting from a 2-0 opening defeat against champions Banyana Banyana while Mali secured a 1-0 victory against Tanzania.

“We have the same mentality coming into the game against Mali. We want to win every single game that we play. We have watched a lot of film, and we know that we are playing against a tough team so it will not be easy,” said Björkegren as quoted by CAFOnline.

Reflecting on the defeat to South Africa, Björkegren said: “We were the better team for most of the game against South Africa, but we did not find the back of the net.

“We would have preferred to come into this game with Mali with three points, but it does not matter now. Our goal has not changed. We want to win.”

He concluded: “We are focusing on ourselves. Our fitness is where we want it to be. We believe in our abilities, in our style but we must stay cleaner in the box.”

Björkegren will be boosted with the return of assistant captain Jennifer Cudjoe who was suspended for the opener against Banyana.

This will be the fifth time the two teams are meeting at the WAFCON with Ghana walking away with three victories: 2-0 in 2022, 1-0 in 2006 and 3-1 in 2016. However, at home in 2018, the Black Queens lost to Mali for the first time ever in this competition.