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Botswana/Ghana: Ghana Women Too Strong for Country
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
7 April 2008
Posted to the web 7 April 2008
Mogomotsi Moloi
Dreams by national Under-20 women football side to play at this year's World Cup in Chile were tarnished after they were beaten 4-1 by visiting Ghana at the National Stadium on Friday night.
Though they managed to hold their stronger opponents in the first half, the Botswana girls could not resist the onslaught in the second half as fatigue crept in. They lost focus and let Ghana to dictate terms. The visitors had a far much better tactical awareness and exerted pressure early in the second half to win the game. Had it not been for goalkeeper, Kagiso Ramogerita, it could have been a heavier loss. She was the best player for Botswana but she was let down by her teammates.
The visitors mostly attacked from the wings, thanks to their hardworking midfielder Grace Asare who controlled the midfield and distributed passes with ease. Botswana never posed any threat to Ghana for the better part of the match.
The combination of Thato Ramafifi and Lebogang Setereke never worked as there was little supply from the midfield where pint-sized captain Gauta Tsebe chased shadows. Trouble started when a Botswana defender deflected Asare's curling corner kick into her own net in the 59th minute to give the visitors the lead. In a solo effort, Anita Amankwa beat a helpless Ramogerita at the near post to double the score in the 67th minute.
After the second goal, the Botswana girls started playing with purpose but could not open the rock-solid Ghana defence. Amankwa was a menace on the right where she was always unmarked. Ghana got the third goal through Diawa Amkomah after an intelligent move. Nthabiseng Mogatle pulled one back a minute later but that was not enough to bring Botswana back to the game.
Portia Boakge got the fourth goal for Ghana with a shot from the far right with three minutes remaining. Ramogerita stretched well to catch the ball but it slipped through her gloves into the net. Botswana coach Emelda Tumetsane said her charges played well but got tired in the second half. "It is not that they were bad.
But they were just fatigued and lost mental concentration," said the coach. She lamented that failure to get international build-ups before the competitive game contributed to their loss. She admitted that there is a wide gap between her charges and Ghana terms of tactical awareness.
But she pleaded with Batswana to give the girls a chance because they are still learning and hopefully they would mature with time, as most of them are favoured by age.
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Ghana coach Francis Oti-Akenteng said though his side won, they made errors that he would want to address soon. He hailed Botswana for determination and fighting spirit. "They (Botswana) are still a young team and if they go on like that they would end somewhere," he said.
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| Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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