Ghana Black Princesses lost 2-0 to Japan in the second group game of the U-20 World Cup last Sunday at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto.
The potential for Ben Fukuo’s squad to advance from the group stage of the competition was hindered, after losing to USA 3-0 in their first match, the Black Princesses needed to defeat Japan to have a chance of advancing past the group stage.
The team’s performance suggests that the Black Princesses’ defence is underdeveloped, they have thus far conceded 5 goals in the competition.
Despite making six appearances in the competition since its inception in 2002, Ghana is yet to reach the knockout stage, when the first half remained barren, the team came close to making history by qualifying out of the group stage.
When Ben Fukuo returned from recess, he made a few changes to his team, Abena Anoma was replaced by Rebecca Atinga, and Japan took the lead in the game twelve minutes after the substitution.
The Japanese team was given a penalty, and Maika Hamanoe scored the game’s first goal by converting, the Japan U-20 women’s team received their second penalty after ten minutes, and the same player scored the second goal for the team.
The Black Princesses’ coach made a few adjustments in an effort to even the score, Mukarama Abdulai, the team’s playmaker, is replaced by Ophelia Amponsah, while Cecilia Nyama is replaced by Rahama Jafaru a minute after the second goal.
Before the final whistle by the referee, the Black Princesses made a late substitution, at the 86th minute, Maafia Nyame replaced Abena Anoma.
Black Princess’s head coach, Ben Fukuo, spoke with GTV Sports+, he said, “We wanted to go at least to the quarter-finals but that didn’t happen. It is sad not to make it this time again so we will go back and work hard so that in the next edition, we will try our best to make it from the group stage.”
