No pressure on Queens to qualify – Hayford

Bashir Hayford

Bashiru Hayford, Coach of the national female football team, the Black Queens has played down on pressure on him and his team in a bid to qualify from the group stage of the ongoing African Women Cup (AWCON) 2018.

The Black Queens of Ghana lost 1-2 to their Malian counterparts in the second Group A game at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday.

Coach Hayford noted that the Black Queens were up to the task and losing one game does not mean there would be pressure on them.

“The team is not under any pressure to go past the group stage of the competition, likewise me.

“This is our second match and in domestic football you win, draw or lose and that is what has happened,” he said.

According to the former Asante Kotoko trainer, he would work on the psyche of his team for their final group match as they seek to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France 2019.

“We need to work on the mental ability of the team for our next match against Cameroon, which is very important for now, as we seek to get out of the group stage.”

The Black Queens of Ghana would take on Cameroon for the final group A game tomorrow at the Accra sports stadium.

The top three finalists for the 11^th biennial championship would qualify for FIFA 2019 Women’s world cup in France.

In another development, Houssein Saloum, Head Coach of the Malian national female football team, says his team played above themselves to beat Ghana 2-1 in their second Group A game in the ongoing African Women Cup (AWCON) 2018 at the Accra Sports Stadium.

According to him, playing the host nation was not easy but was bent on winning to remain in the competition.

“I must congratulate my team for the great job done, playing Ghana wasn’t easy but they proved equal to the task.

“They played to instructions and played above themselves to keep us in the competition. We told ourselves before this game that we cannot afford to lose again after losing to Cameroon in our first game”.

Coach Saloum noted that, though they were in a jubilant mood, they would prepare well for the last game as they seek to make it out of the group stages.

“Every game has its approach and style and we will prepare well for our next game, we would work on some few errors and get set for our final group game against Algeria”. –GNA

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