A hard-fought 2-0 victory against Morocco on Friday put Ghana in the driving seat for a ticket to the India 2022 U-17 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
Battling the well-drilled North African opposition, the Black Maidens managed to show supremacy with a goal in each half of the African qualifying final round first-leg tie at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Stella Nyamekey gave Ghana the lead with a sweet strike in the 18th minute.
Coach Baba Nuhu’s girls probed further with a couple of chances before half time but the scoreline stayed 1-0.
Back from recess, Nyamekye came close with two chances in the 52nd and 60th minutes but the Moroccan goalkeeper pulled some saves to deny her another goal.
Then emerged Nancy Amoh – who scored directly from two corner kicks against Guinea in the last round – with another dead-ball expertise. This time, the 16-year-old stunned the visitors with a free-kick in the 65th minute to give Ghana a 2-0 lead.
Amoh almost made it a brace in the 86th minute but her strike came off the post.
The second leg comes off at Moulay El Hassan Sports Complex in Rabat on Saturday, June 4.
The aggregate winner on the day qualifies to participate as one of Africa’s representatives at the U-17 Women’s World Cup in India later in October.
In the other African qualifiers also played on Friday, Nigeria travelled to secure a 1-0 first-leg advantage over Ethiopia in Addis Ababa.
