Ghana U20 women’s head coach Charles Sampson has expressed delight after his side travelled to South Africa to secure a crucial win and advance to the final stage of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
The Ghana women’s national under-20 football team, popularly known as the Black Princesses, departed Ghana needing victory after surrendering a two-goal advantage to draw 2–2 in Accra in the first leg.
Unshaken by the intimidating home crowd at the Mbombela Stadium, Ghana stunned the hosts with a decisive second-half strike from Priscilla Mensah to seal qualification.
“The mood is unbelievable. You could see a lot of emotions, even myself, just because the sort of challenges we had in this particular camp was huge,” Sampson said after the match.
“And to come out of that and win here and qualify for the next round — we are so, so happy,” he added.
The Black Princesses will next face Uganda, who eliminated Zambia, in the final qualifying round for a place at this year’s tournament in Poland.
“Well, our goal is to go to the World Cup and South Africa posed to be a challenge for us, so we are extremely happy we could surpass them. Now we will have time to prepare and look at who our next opponent is,” Sampson noted.
Ghana have not missed the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup since 2010 and are now on the brink of qualifying for an eighth consecutive appearance if they overcome Uganda in the decisive round.
