Ghana defeat Nigeria in women’s hockey to book final
The Ghana women’s hockey team have booked a ticket to the final after beating their West African counterpart Nigeria 1-0 at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium on Monday, March 18, 2024.
The team needed a win against Nigeria to seal their qualification to the final with six points and they did exactly that as Mavis Berko scored the only goal to secure all three points for Team Ghana.
While beaming in confidence, team captain, Elizabeth Opoku says, the team is ready to battle anyone in the final.
“Playing Nigeria was tougher than our previous game but at the end of the day, we won. The confidence to beat Nigeria came from the team. After the performance against Kenya, I had no doubt we would beat Nigeria. I don’t know who we will face in the final but we’re ready to face anyone that comes,” she said.
The Black Sticks women will face Nigeria or Kenya in the final on Friday, March 22, 2024.
Also, The men’s hockey team are one step away from following suit after they beat Kenya 3-1 to top their group with six points.
The Black Sticks men entered the game after already beating rivals, Nigeria 1-0 in the first game of the competition. Goals from Fialor Derrick, Addison Abdullah and Ntiamoah Alfred ensured a comfortable victory for the host nation.
The team will face Egypt on Wednesday in a top-of-the-table clash. Egypt edged past Nigeria 5-4 to also make it two wins out of two in the tournament.
Both Ghana and Egypt have six points with just goal difference separating them.
Speaking to JoySports, the captain of Team Ghana, Abbiew Charles is optimistic about a win for Ghana on Wednesday.
“Now we’re on top of the group with goal difference. They won their first two games and we also won ours. The expectation is very high, we are going to meet Egypt on our land and trust me, we are going for nothing but victory.”