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Ghana Ends Young Ferns' Winning Streak

by Jeremy Ruane

Ghana brought the Young Ferns' remarkable eight-match winning streak - dating back to their last group game at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals - to an end at the Estadio Charrua in Montevideo on 20 November, the "Black Maidens"' 2-0 victory earning them a quarter-final encounter with Mexico.

New Zealand's loss means they'll take on Japan in Colonia Del Sacramento from 9am on Sunday, NZ time, but the mere fact they've advanced to the knockout stages for the first time at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals means anything from this match on is a bonus.

Had the Young Ferns won this match, they'd have finished top of the group - nosebleed territory for a country which is generally punching above its weight whenever contesting any FIFA Finals tournament.

But Ghana proved tough opponents for a Young Ferns team sporting eight changes from that which had earned their quarter-final berth, with the majority of the starters making their FIFA Finals debut in the process.

Just 359 fans were on present to see the Ghanaians take charge of proceedings from the outset, even though it was the New Zealanders who fired the first shot in anger in the eighth minute.

Aneka Mittendorff's long throw-in wasn't cleared, inviting Amelia Abbott to steer a shot goalwards from the edge of the penalty area, an attempt she failed to keep below crossbar height.

Thereafter it was Ghana who controlled proceedings for the balance of the half, and created all the opportunities. Jacqueline Owusu volleyed the first of them narrowly over in the fourteenth minute, after the speedy Grace Animah's corner had been headed into the danger zone by captain and star player, Mukarama Abdulai.

After Anna Leat had grabbed Justice Tweneboaa's long-range effort under her crossbar, New Zealand's number one - who's proving herself one of the best 'keepers on show in this tournament - produced a superb full stretch save to her left in the seventeenth minute to deny Animah, after the left winger had left Genevieve Ryan and Rose Luxton trailing in her wake.

Abdulai sent a ten-yarder fizzing past the post soon afterwards before seeing Leat grab her 24th minute free-kick from the edge of the penalty area, awarded after Ryan scythed down Animah with a late tackle which fully merited a booking, but wasn't afforded the punishment it deserved by lenient Swedish referee Sara Persson.

Having pinpointed the weak link in the Young Ferns' line-up, Ghana looked to attack down Ryan's flank whenever possible, and both Abdulai and Animah exposed her shortcomings again before the half-hour mark.

While nothing came of Abdulai's raid - her team-mates butchered the opening, Animah went for goal herself after once more rounding Ryan, only to meet her match in Leat, who was at full stretch to tip the ball over at the near post.

Further attempts from Millot Pokuaa and Player of the Match Animah followed before the half-time whistle sounded, along with an ambitious thirty-yarder from Azumah Bugre which Leat still had to save in the shadows of both her crossbar and the half-time whistle.

The second half took a while to get going, but when it did, it was the Young Ferns who threatened first, substitute Grace Wisnewski's first touch seeing her guide the ball past the far post after she had pounced on a headed clearance.

Another substitute, Marisa Van der Meer, blocked an Abdulai shot soon after as Ghana's captain looked to capitalise on another Animah raid, but when Nina Norshie hoisted the ball downfield in the 61st minute, Van der Meer allowed the ball to bounce, only for Abdulai to burst past her and bury her shot beyond the advancing figure of Leat, although she used her arm to control the sphere before shooting.

While Mittendorff's replacement was mortified by her mistake, and the handling offence was only revealed by slow motion replay, the reality was this goal had been coming, and the Young Ferns had done well to keep their African rivals at bay for over an hour.

Abdulai went close to doubling their advantage soon after, before the Young Ferns mounted a solid fightback, with Maya Hahn a highly influential figure in their bid to restore parity.

After Jayda Stewart forced Grace Buoadu to produce her first save of the match in the 66th minute, Hahn's thirty yard free-kick forced the 'keeper into a second denial six minutes later, before a long-range free-kick from Hahn was headed into the goalmouth by Wisnewski ten minutes from time.

This forced Buoadu to punch the ball off the head of another Young Ferns' substitute, Gabrielle Rennie. She had replaced Ayla Pratt, who toiled doggedly up front for little reward, a description equally befitting of Britney Cunningham-Lee's display.

Ghana had continued to fire shots in anger during this revival - they fired a total of 31 throughout the contest - but many of them lacked accuracy, save for that which sealed the outcome two minutes from time.

Ryan's was a game best forgotten, and was summed up perfectly by her stray pass which invited substitute Suzzy Teye to send Abdulai careering through the inside right channel, where she outpaced Van der Meer before thundering the ball high past Leat at her near post to clinch Ghana's 2-0 victory.

The Young Ferns had one final chance to reduce the deficit, with Hahn again orchestrating proceedings. She picked out Stewart, whose shot was blocked, with the rebound falling invitingly into the stride of Arabella Maynard.

She let fly, but straight at Buoadu, whose save ensured Ghana would win the group with a clean sheet in this encounter, one in which the Young Ferns were largely second best against opponents who are proven performers at this age level, and who look set to go deep into the tournament once again.

Ghana: Buoadu; Sekyere, Tweneboaa, Norshie, Oppong; J. Owusu (Mumuni, 55), Pokuaa, Bugre (Alhassan, 90); M. Owusu (Teye, 54), Abdulai, Animah

Young Ferns: Leat; Ryan, Luxton, Mittendorff (Van der Meer, 46), Strachan; Hahn (booked, 74), Stewart, Abbott (Wisnewski, 56); Cunningham-Lee, Pratt (Rennie, 79), Maynard

Referee: Sara Persson (Sweden)

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