Under different circumstances, tonight’s contest against Mali would have been an exercise to determine whether Ghana finishes first or second.
Between 1998 and 2006, Ghana finished either in second or third place for five consecutive Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Decade of decadence
Since then, Ghana’s performance has deteriorated significantly. Across the next six tournaments, the Black Queens’ best outing was a third-place finish in 2016 when Linda Eshun’s second-half header secured bronze in Cameroon.
This year’s tournament in Morocco is Ghana’s first appearance since the competition was expanded from eight to twelve teams in 2022.
When Ghana hosted the tournament in 2018, the Queens failed to qualify out of the group for the third time in six competitions.
For a country that completely neglected the women’s game, it was no more than we deserved.
Funding issues
To put the extent of neglect into context, things got so bad that in 2016, the Queens had to hit the streets in protest of $25,000 unpaid winning bonuses from the tournament in Cameroon. Bot long before that, the Queens had refused to leave their hotel after winning gold at the All-African Games.
A decade later, things are improving, but at an incredibly slow pace.
The funding issues still persist.
Last Sunday, Ghana’s Ambassador to Morocco, Charity Gbedawo, confirmed that the team’s outstanding allowances had been paid ahead of tonight’s encounter with Tanzania.
There was no word on when the team’s outstanding bonuses from the qualifiers will be paid.
Last year, Nora Hauptle, who qualified Ghana for this tournament, walked away from the job to coach tournament favourites Zambia.
Why? She was frustrated by the substandard preparatory program.
In her view, the Queens had not played enough high-profile opponents and could not close the gap between tournament favorites Nigeria (record winners of the competition), Zambia (who beat Ghana to secure Olympic Qualification), defending champions, and group opponents South Africa and hosts Morocco. So she quit.
Yet, Ghanaians still approach the topic of women’s football with a misplaced expectation of excellence.
Marginal gains
The decision to hire Nora Hauptle, and now Kim Lars Bjorkegren, highlights a certain departure from the norm; a willingness to hire quality coaching minds rather than trusting ex-players and hoping that their goodwill can deliver results.
In his first competition in charge, Lars Bjorkegren has struggled.
Ghana has only one point from two games and is at the bottom of Group C heading into their final group stage match. A 2-0 loss to South Africa in Oujda was followed by a 1-1 draw with Mali in Berkane.
Friday’s 1-1 draw with Mali means that they have not won any of their last four WAFCON matches – two draws and two losses.
To qualify, the Queens need to beat Tanzania by a wide margin to topple either South Africa or Mali.
Or win convincingly and qualify as one of the best third-placed teams in the group stage. Either way, a win is non-negotiable.
Patience, please
Qualification or not, Ghana needs to realize that the gulf in quality, created by decades of neglect, will not be bridged by a few years of next to insignificant investments.
It will take years of consistent funding and time-relevant game models to be able to break through.
In the interim, there will be no justification for sacking Bjorkegren if he does not qualify for the next round.
He needs more time, patience, and support to build this team in his image.
Until then, this is our level, as undesirable as it is.