The Black Princesses of Ghana earned their qualification for a sixth consecutive FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica on Sunday after defeating Ethiopia 2-1 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The West Africans had gained the upper hand against the Ethiopians in the fifth round doubleheader after securing a 3-0 first leg win thanks to a first half brace from Salamatu Abdullai and Cecelia Nyama’s effort in Addis Ababa two weeks ago.
With a huge away win, the Black Princesses looked to make the best of their home ground and got off to a flying start when first leg heroine Abdulai opened the scoring for the hosts after just his two minutes in the encounter.
The Ghanaians continued to push for another to put the contest beyond the East Africans and Abdulai yet again found the breakthrough to hit her brace and extend the advantage for home side in the 25th minute.
The Ethiopians, however staged a fightback, having found themselves 2-0 down and Mesay Temwagen headed home a free kick from Aregash Kalsa four minutes later to pull one back before going into the half time.
In the second half, the visitors looked the more determined side with two goals ruled out for offside but the hosts held on firmly to earn their qualification despite the sending off goalkeeper Cynthia Fiindib four minutes from time.
The result means Ghana have completed a double over Ethiopia for the first time in the competition and secured a 5-1 victory on aggregate to join Nigeria in qualifying as the two African representatives for the global youth tournament.
Source: CAF
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