FIRST TOUCH NOVEMBER 17 - DECEMBER 01 2018 AFRICA WOMEN CUP OF NATIONS OVERVIEW Group A Group B GHANA NIGERIA ALGERIA SOUTH AFRICA MALI ZAMBIA CAMEROON KENYA CONTENTS GHANA ALGERIA pg.3 pg.4 NARRATIVE NARRATIVE PROFILE PROFILE MANAGER: Bashir Hayford MANAGER: Azzedine Chih STAR PLAYER : Grace Asentwaa STAR PLAYER : Fatima Sekouane PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE WHY ROOT FOR THEM? WHY ROOT FOR THEM? WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? MALI CAMEROON pg.5 pg.6 NARRATIVE NARRATIVE PROFILE: Aly Elkebich PROFILE: MANAGER: Yacouba Sylla MANAGER: Enow Ngachu STAR PLAYER : STAR PLAYER : Gabrielle Onguene PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE WHY ROOT FOR THEM? WHY ROOT FOR THEM? WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? NIGERIA SOUTH AFRICA pg.7 pg.8 NARRATIVE NARRATIVE PROFILE: Thomas Dennerby PROFILE: Desiree Ellis MANAGER: Asisat Oshoala MANAGER: Thembi Kgatlana STAR PLAYER : STAR PLAYER : PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE WHY ROOT FOR THEM? WHY ROOT FOR THEM? WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? ZAMBIA KENYA pg.9 pg.10 F NARRATIVE I NARRATIVE R PROFILE: Bruce Mwape S PROFILE: Ann Aluoch T MANAGER: Barbara Banda MANAGER: Faith Kwambako T O STAR PLAYER : STAR PLAYER : U PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE C PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE H WHY ROOT FOR THEM? WHY ROOT FOR THEM? | WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? P WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? A G E 2 AWCON 2018 GROUP A GHANA NARRATIVE Other than the Super Falcons of Nigeria, you can hardly think of any other team with the football swag that the Black Queens have. They have never ranked lower than 53rd on the FIFA Women’s rankings and represented the continent at the 1999, 2003 and 2007 world cups in the United States twice and then China respectively. They boast of a remarkable 11 appearances at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations but have never won it. The Black Queens will make a 12th appearance at home later this month. They suffered their heaviest defeat against Germany at the world cup in 2016, a humiliating 11-0 loss. That was two years after the Black Queens recorded their biggest win, a 13 - 0 demolition of West African counterparts, Guinea. They played their first official match in 1991 against Nigeria and have never looked back. Unlike other teams, the expectation from fans and neutrals for the Black Queens is S simple, that is winning the tournament. They have the advantage of being hosts R GH A and more experience than most at that level. Will they deliver, after being so near A ST yet so far many times. N A K AC COACH: Bashir Hayford BL The former coach for domestic football clubs in Ghana, namely Ashanti Gold and Ebusua Dwarfs FC has been entrusted to lead the Queens to glory. He is overseeing three friendly matches with Zambia, South African and Kenya before PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE the kickoff of the tournament on the 17th of November. With or without being hosts, Ghana will see anything but Semi-Final qualification as a failure for their nation. Expect them to be on the forefront of the action from the start of each of their matches, as they embrace their homecourt advantage. STAR PLAYER: Grace Asentwaa She is only 17 but the midfielder was crowned player of the match in Ghana’s game against New Zealand in the final group game at the FIFA U- 20 Women’s World Cup. If this young lady does grace us at the tournament, WHY ROOT FOR THEM? keep your eyes on her. It is inspiring and quite powerful to have someone A tournament is fun when the hosts are playing in it, to the final stages. at her age who has developed her passion to the level that Grace has. She is a gem for now and the future of global football. Captain Elizabeth Addo WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? who plays for Seattle Reign FC in the United States of America is also one to Could be fun backing a team that p**ps the party for the hosts. watch out for. COUNTRY PROFILE Best AFCON finish: First runners-up position in 2004, 2014 and 2016. Historic Milestones: All time high of 42 on the FIFA rankings in June 2008, currently 47th, the second-best ranked African team after Nigeria. F I R S Qualification Journey : Qualified as hosts. T T O U C Style Of Play: Going directly at opponents in a quick attacking style H | P A Persona: The Black Queens are like that bright child in school who always gets second place no matter G E how hard she tries. 3 AWCON 2018 GROUP A ALGERIA NARRATIVE Algeria’s story is that of a group of women backed to break new ground by becoming the first Arab and Muslim nation to participate in the Women’s FIFA World Cup. Not too far ago, we heard of the inspiring story of Iranian women who traveled to Russia to watch their first football match in a stadium since 1980 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. As you could have imagined, it didn’t take long for many to rally behind the audacious Iranian women eventually leading to a historic encounter where for over 40 years, both men and women watched the Spain vs Iran group B fixture in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. Now, the Fennecs of Algeria are similarly Muslim and Arabic women who have undoubtedly faced some stigma but were given the opportunity by the Algerian Football Federation to take it a notch higher and actually started playing the game in 1998. Their first match was against France where they lost 14-0 which happens to AL CS be their heaviest defeat to date but have since handed the same scoreline to G E E N Lebanon in 2006. They have qualified for four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and R N will make a fifth appearance in Ghana 2018. The Fennecs have never won the AFCON IA E F trophy and will be eyeing at least their first knock-out stage appearance later this E H month. Even more, inviting is the prospect of reaching the last three and qualifying T for the 2019 Women’s FIFA World Cup, a priceless gift to the Arab World. COACH: Azzedine Chih PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE A loyal soldier that built the foundation of Algeria’s women football team for over The Ghana match will be tough, but they are probably one of the teams to beat in 19 years. He has the experience and his players believe in him to take them to a group A other than the hosts. They are favorites against Mali and getting a result new height. against Cameroon may almost certainly get them through to the semi-finals. STAR PLAYER: Fatima Sekouane WHY ROOT FOR THEM? Algeria’s captain, Fatima, was their top goal scorer in the qualifiers with To stick it in the faces of those who ever thought Arab women cannot play football three goals to her name. Being a defender and topping the scoring charts for her team tells you a lot about the kind of woman she is. WHY ROOT AGAINST THEM? Perhaps causes that transcend the football pitch really don't cut it for you COUNTRY PROFILE Best AFCON finish: Group stage finish. Have won only two matches in the tournament finals Historic Milestones: 1. 64th ranking on the FIFA Women’s Rankings in June 2009 and currently occupy the 80th position, the sixth best ranked African nation. 2. They won the Arab Women’s Championship in Egypt 2006 3. First Runners-Up of the UNAF Women’s Tournament in Tunisia 2009 F I R S Qualification Journey: Algeria narrowly beat Senegal, 3-2 on aggregate T T in the first round before sweeping away Ethiopia with an aggregate O U scoreline of 6-3 in the second round. C H | P A Style Of Play: Hold the opponent at bay and hit them quickly on the counter. G E 4 Persona: I would liken them to a formerly ‘despised’ hairstyle that has recently become trendy because of what it represents. AWCON 2018 GROUP A MALI NARRATIVE The Female Eagles of Mali are one of the most experienced sides heading into the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Ghana from the 17th of November to the 1st of December. They have appeared in six AFCON tournaments since their debut in 2002 and Ghana 2019 will be number seven. Their heaviest defeat was at the hands of a familiar predator, Nigeria, an 8-0 humiliation in Abuja 2015. However, they can also pride themselves in having dealt West African counterparts, Guinea, a similar 8-0 thrashing in 2002. The Female Eagles have never appeared at the Women’s FIFA World Cup nor the Olympic games and will be eyeing at least 3rd spot in the Ghana 2019 tourney to be guaranteed a 2019 World Cup qualification. S Their main confidence booster will probably be the upset they caused when they E N eliminated the highly-rated Ivory Coast to secure a spot among the final eight set to N battle it out in Ghana. M O A L L G I AI COACH: Aly Elkebich S LE Malians will know all about the Female Eagles gaffer. Aly is hardly documented but the feat to reach the 2018 Ghana finals should well enough speak for this coach. PREDICTED GROUP STAGE PERFORMANCE All the teams in group A namely hosts, Ghana, Cameroon, and Algeria are ranked above Mali on the current FIFA rankings.