Black Princesses fight back to beat Nigeria to secure gold
The Black Princesses of Ghana clinched Ghana’s 11th gold medal at the ongoing African Games with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Nigeria at the Cape Coast Stadium on Thursday night.
The game started with an early setback for Ghana as goalkeeper Afi Amenyeku’s error in the penalty box allowed Nigeria’s Edeh Njideka to capitalize and put Nigeria in the lead in the 23rd minute.
Undeterred by the setback, the Black Princesses displayed resilience and dominated the rest of the first half, creating numerous scoring opportunities that unfortunately went unconverted.
Buoyed by the support of the passionate home crowd in Cape Coast, Yussif Basigi’s team finally levelled the score in the 77th minute when Tracy Twum found the back of the net with a powerful shot from the left flank.
With neither team able to find a winner in regular time, the match went into extra time.
In a moment of brilliance, Mukarama Abdulai sealed the victory for Ghana in the 9th minute of extra time, controlling a precise pass inside the box before slotting home a low shot into the bottom corner, sparking wild celebrations among the fans in the stadium.
Despite a late surge from Nigeria, the Black Princesses held on to secure the win.
This triumph marks Ghana’s second gold medal in the women’s football event at the African Games, following their victory in the 2015 edition, also under the guidance of coach Yussif Basigi.
Also, the Black Princesses concluded their campaign at the games undefeated, cementing their status as one of Africa’s top female football teams.