Ghana regroup to face France

By MELTON PAIS
GHANA coach Mas-Ud Dramani, pictured, is adamant his side can regroup after their 0-1 loss to New Zealand and put in another strong effort against France today at the PNG Football Stadium.
The group C fixture of the Under-20 women’s soccer World Cup will see the Black Princesses take on the French, who themselves could only manage a goal-less draw with the US on Monday.
Dramani cast a confident figure during the post-match press conference and said although the weather and a competitive Kiwi outfit had contained his charges well, he was expecting big things from them against France.
“We didn’t expect New Zealand to be this competitive but I also think we struggled to adjust to the conditions on the pitch,” Dramani said.
Despite that, Dramani commended his women for an aggressive start in the first-half and for making the Kiwis work hard.
He said the side still needed to organise themselves better when defending deep in their half, especially at the goalmouth. “We looked unsure of ourselves late in that second-half and that cost us the game.”
Dramani said he was preparing to accept a 0-0 draw but his side let their guard down for New Zealand to get a late match-winner through Tayla Christensen.
“I thought the game would end in a draw but they scored and we lost the game. We’ve learned our lesson and are looking forward to the game against France,” Dramani said.
“We were probably over-confident and made technical errors so that is a lesson we need to learn from because France will be a harder game for us. We need to keep our focus.”