Nora Hauptle, the head coach of Ghana’s senior women’s national team, the Black Queens, has called for more high-profile friendlies following their disappointment in the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifying against Zambia.
Despite an impressive record of just one loss in 11 games leading up to the doubleheader penultimate round of qualifiers, the Black Queens struggled against Zambia.
Hauptle believes that playing against top-quality teams before facing challenging matches will help her team build up their strength and resilience.
“We need to gain experience from these high-pressure games. Our squad is young, hungry, and talented, and as the head coach, I am proud of them and I love my team,” said Hauptle after the match.
In the first leg of the qualifiers, Zambia secured a narrow 1-0 victory at the Accra Sports Stadium, putting Ghana in a difficult position early on.
Despite the setback, Hauptle remained positive, believing that her team had the ability to overturn the result in the second leg.
However, the return leg in Ndola proved to be another tough test for the Black Queens. Although they fought hard to a 3-3 draw with Zambia, it was not enough to overcome the deficit from the first leg.
With an aggregate score of 4-3 in favor of Zambia, Ghana’s hopes of advancing in the qualifiers were shattered.
