Black Queen’s head coach Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo has attributed their failure to qualify for the Total Africa Women Cup of Nation (AWCON) to lack of training facilities; and has called on the government to extend assistance to the female national football teams.
Speaking at the launching of the inaugural edition of the First Lady’s Cup in Accra, Mercy made a courtesy call on corporate bodies to come to the aid of the women’s athletes.
Black Queens were eliminated by the Super Falcons of Nigeria in a two-legged encounter by a goal to two on aggregates.
The former Black Queens defender noted at the launching that; “the Black Queens were invited to partake in a tournament in Lagos, Nigeria. The pitch in which we played the tournament was unique which made ball control very swift and smooth. And I believe that enhanced the performance of the Super Falcons, Nigerian, our counterpart”.
Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo who doubles as a head coach of Women’s premier league side, Beery Ladies pointed out some challenges the team encountered. She said; “We are indeed most grateful to Her Excellency. One of the challenge women’s football encounters is infrastructure. Our pitch is awful, though the ministry is trying everything possible to bring our football to a certain level which is very appreciable, the women are lagging behind because we don’t get access to astroturf. So we are forced to play on grassless pitches, which causes a lot of injury to the girls”.
“Poor camping places, the FIFA goal project we have in Prampram, unfortunately, accommodates both male and female. And when men and females stay together, it causes its own countless challenges. We are still pleading ‘Oliver to ask for more’.
We need equipment, footballs, training equipment such as cones, goalpost, etc.”, she further stated.
By || Brent Kojo Amenuvor