Black Queens coach Kim Lars Björkgren has stated that his team was more deserving of a spot in the championship match of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, despite their semi-final defeat to Morocco.
Ghana exited the tournament at the semi-final stage after a 4-2 loss to Morocco on penalty kicks on Tuesday night in Rabat.
The Queens seized the initiative through Stella Nyamekye’s opportunistic goal midway through the first half.
However, Morocco staged a comeback and restored parity after Sakina Ouazraoui capitalized on some questionable defending in the second half.
Reflecting on the performance, Björkgren said,“I think we were the better team if you look at stats from the game.”
“You can see it in the expected goals. We had 2.21 against a team that had less than 1 expected goals. That is normally a win but we were unlucky today. I could not be prouder of the girls today, and how hard they worked here.”
Despite the heartbreak, Kim Lars Björkgren expressed admiration for his team’s display in their inaugural major continental tournament, highlighting the positives from the experience.
“There are so many talented players in Africa, especially some of the attacking players, maybe potentially some of the best players in the world. So it was great to be a part of this tournament [WAFCON].”
The loss dashes Ghana’s hopes of reaching their first WAFCON final since 2006.
Ghana will now compete for third-place honors against South Africa on Saturday. The Black Queens are guaranteed a minimum of $300,000 despite failing to reach the final.
