Black Queens More Intelligent Than Super Falcons – Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo

Although her team lost in Lagos, the tactician claimed that the Black Queens were superior to the reigning African champions, intelligence-wise.

The Ghana women's senior team coach Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo stated her charges were more intelligent than Nigeria in Wednesday’s 2-0 African Women’s Cup of Nations qualifier.
 
Uchenna Kanu’s brace in the first half powered the Super Falcons past their West African foes at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos.

Although Ghana showed a lot of promise, they were unable to get a goal as Onome Ebi marshalled the defence well, while Paris FC goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie made some crucial saves.

Notwithstanding the setback against Randy Waldrum’s women, Tagoe-Quarcoo is proud of her team’s showing, while shifting her focus to the reverse fixture.

“So far so good, I think we played well, tactically we were very disciplined, and we came to play football,” the legendary Ghana player told media.

“Unfortunately, the Nigerians were stronger and tougher than we were, but when it comes to intelligence, we were far way ahead of them.

“When you are playing an away game, it's not easy, so we are going back to the drawing board to correct our mistakes.

“We are going back home and waiting to receive [the Super Falcons].”

The Black Queens could have leaked in more goals, albeit, the hosts’ strikers were unable to convert begging chances that came their way.

Prior to this fixture, Ghana had visited Lagos for last month’s Aisha Buhari Cup where they ended their campaign on a disappointing note.

They would be hoping to turn the table around in the reverse fixture billed for the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday, October 24.

Unlike the Black Queens who missed the biennial African showpiece in 2012 (Equatorial Guinea), nine-time African queens Nigeria have not missed an edition since its inception in 1991.

The Super Falcons extended their dominance on the continent by winning the 2018 edition staged in Ghana.

In the keenly-contested final, they silenced South Africa 4-3 on penalties after the score stood at 0-0 after extra time.

The Morocco 2023 Awcon doubles as the African qualifiers to the 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup. The top four teams will qualify for the global football showpiece in Australia and New Zealand.