Interim Head coach of Ghana’s women football national team, Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo has vowed that Nigeria will never beat her country again as long as she remains coach of the Black Queens.
Tagoe-Quarcoo made this assertion after she led the Black Queens to beat the Super Falcons via penalties at the semi final stage of the ongoing WAFU cup in Abidjan, Coted’voire.
Nigeria took an early lead through Alice Ogebe in Thursday night’s game but the Ghanaians promptly replied before winning on penalties. “Super Falcons will never beat me (Ghana) again! I have broken the dominance and as long as I remain Black Queens coach, Super Falcons will never beat Ghana,” said the 1999 World Cup star.
She went on to explain how her strategy of playing five midfielders as against Nigeria who played with two midfielders worked for her despite Nigeria scoring first.
“I studied the Nigerian team and I felt the only way to hold them was to choke the midfield and that’s why I used five midfielders as against their two.
“It paid off for us because after their early lead, we took charge of the game till the end.”
Tagoe-Quarcoo regretted facing her “sister” at the semi final stage of the competition instead of the final. “I feel bad beating my sister (Nigeria), it would have been nice if we had met in the final but it’s all good and part of football.”
A very elated Quarcoo revealed how the defeats she suffered in the hands of Nigeria as a player for many years gave her the determination to achieve what she could not as a player.
“When I was a player, I suffered several defeats from the Super Falcons. They defeated us in Abeokuta, Nigeria (in 1998 AWC final) and also in Ghana and everywhere we met but I told myself that I will not allow them to beat me again as a coach.”
Beating Nigeria as a coach is one moment Tagoe-Quarcoo will forever cherish because she believes it has added value to her and people will now take her serious. “For me to achieve what I couldn’t do as a player means a lot to me. It has added value to me and it will tell a lot about me as a coach going forward.”
The Black Queens of Ghana will face host Cote D’ivoire who defeated Mali 2-0 in the other semi final in the Saturday’s final while Nigeria’s Super Falcons will face Mali in the third place match.
By Faith Oluchi in Abidjan
