Ghana’s Black Maidens ended their WAFU-B U17 Girls Cup campaign on a high note after recording a commanding 4-0 victory over hosts Côte d’Ivoire in their final match of the tournament.
The win capped an impressive campaign for Ghana, who finished second on the final standings with 12 points after winning four of their five matches. The Black Maidens’ only defeat came against eventual champions Nigeria, who secured a 4-2 victory in their second game and went on to finish top with a perfect 15 points after winning all five matches.
Ghana began the competition with a dominant 4-0 win over Burkina Faso before suffering their only setback against Nigeria. The Black Maidens responded strongly with victories over Togo, Niger and Côte d’Ivoire to complete their campaign with four wins.
Against Côte d’Ivoire, goalkeeper Belinda Maku Aklie started in post as Ghana delivered a dominant display.
Captain Seidatu Wahab opened the scoring in the 14th minute after reacting quickest to convert the rebound following her penalty kick being saved by the Côte d’Ivoire goalkeeper. The goal took Wahab’s tournament tally to five goals.
Gloria Adomako Ameaa doubled Ghana’s advantage in the 31st minute before adding another in the 80th minute after an assist from Philipa Asana Mannebe, taking her own tally to five goals in the competition.
Cynthia Obinserwuo completed the scoring in the 88th minute to seal a convincing victory for the Black Maidens.
As part of an innovation introduced for the final matchday, all matches were followed by penalty shootouts regardless of the final results, with the exercise aimed at helping players gain more confidence and experience in penalty situations. Côte d’Ivoire won the shootout against Ghana 5-3.
The WAFU-B U17 Girls Cup provided valuable preparation for Ghana ahead of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, giving the technical team the opportunity to assess the squad, test players against strong regional opposition and build momentum ahead of the global tournament.
With captain Seidatu Wahab and Gloria Adomako Ameaa finishing among the competition’s leading scorers with five goals each, the Black Maidens will now turn their attention to the next phase of their preparations for the World Cup.
