Despite losing to Morocco in the semi-finals of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Black Queens coach Kim Lars Björkgren has said his team deserved a place in the championship game.
Following a 4-2 penalty kick loss to Morocco on Tuesday night in Rabat, Ghana was eliminated from the tournament at the semi-final stage. Halfway through the first half, Stella Nyamekye scored an opportunistic goal to give the Queens the lead.
But after Sakina Ouazraoui took advantage of some dubious defending in the second half, Morocco rallied and evened the score. Björkgren remarked on the performance,
“I think we were the better team if you look at stats from the game.”
“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.”
Kim Lars Björkgren highlighted the positive aspects of the experience while expressing admiration for his team’s performance in their first major continental tournament, despite the heartbreak.
“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 defeat eliminates Ghana’s chances of reaching their first WAFCON final since 2006. Ghana’s next matchup is against South Africa on Saturday for third place. Even though the Black Queens did not make it to the final, they are assured a minimum of $300,000.
