It was a battle for survival as the Ghanaian U-20 female team took on Switzerland on Wednesday evening at the ongoing world cup in Germany. The team had drawn its first match 1-1 against USA and lost its second against Korea Republic by 4-2. So they needed to win their last match and hope that Korea Republic should beat USA by a wide margin in order to have hope of advancing into the quarter final stage.

The Ghanaians did remarkably well in spite of their size; they were relatively smaller than the Swiss girls. It was the Swiss who made the first attempt at goal through their number 9, who unleashed a terrific shot close to the Ghanaian 18 yard box, but the shot was stopped by the goal keeper. A goal mouth scramble ensued thereafter, and the ball was eventually cleared away.

In the 14th minute, Deborah Afriyie overtook a Swiss defender, but over pushed the ball into the waiting hands of the goal keeper. In the 17th minute, Elizabeth Addo lobbied the ball over the on-rushing Swiss keeper, but the ball went over the bar for goal kick.

In the 19th minute, Janet Agyir got a knock on her kneel and could not continue because of the injury: she was replaced with Cynthia Adobia.

In the 31st minute the West African side drew their first blood as the captain of the side, Elizabeth Addo connected a perfectly taken free kick into the right side of the net; with the goal keeper nicely beaten.

In the 39th minute the European goal keeper was dispossessed of the ball, but Deborah Afriyie lost the opportunity of making it goal number 2 as she shot over the bar. But the 42nd minute saw Elizabeth Cudjoe beating the on-rushing keeper to make it goal number 2 (and her third in three matches).

The African side had a better ball possession in both halves (52% to 48% in the first half and 51% to 49% in the second half). Despite their small size, they were able to check mate their opponents, dribbling from one end of the pitch to the other. Though the Swiss tried to intimidate them initially using their size advantage, they eventually began to apply more caution when it was obvious that the Ghanaians were in control of the game.

The European side stepped up their game a little in the second half in order not to concede more goals. Canetta Cora replaced Carolyn in the 46th minute. The Ghanaians got a corner kick in the 48th minute but it was poorly taken and could not produce any anxious moment.

The African side got their goal keeper beaten in the 55th minute, but one of the defenders quickly cleared the ball out before it could get to the goal line. Samira Suleman replaced Deborah Afriyie in the 57th minute.

In the 64th minute, Dadson’s free kick was parried by the Swiss keeper. The European side got corner kicks in the 67th and 74th minutes respectively, but none made any impact on the game. Elizabeth Cudjoe was replaced with Mercy Myles in the 76th minute

In the 78th minute, Chatal Fimian tried to wedge an on-rushing Dadson and got knocked down in the process. The medical team rushed into the pitch to revive her. She was thereafter taken out of the pitch on a stretcher, with an extrication collar around her neck. She got replaced with Nadine Baker.

Few minutes to the end of the game, a mild drama ensued as the Swiss coach tried to bully the centre referee. After series of shouting and gesticulations, he went back to his seat. Ghana won the match by 2-0, but unfortunately USA defeated Korea Republic to top the group with 7 points while Korea had 6 points. Ghana and Switzerland were automatically sent home. Other teams that made it into the quarter finals stage include Nigeria, Mexico, USA, Korea, Germany, Sweden, Korea People’s Republic and Columbia.

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