Champions League: Delta Queens, Ampem Darkoa fight for ticket on Thursday

By

Harry Awurumibe,

 Africa’s No.1 Women Football Journalist

 

Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) champions Delta Queens football club of Asaba will Thursday clash with Ampem Darkoa, Ghana’s champions in the final of the WAFU B qualifiers billed for Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.

This is even as the match will have all the trappings of an epic clash because whenever Nigeria and Ghana meet at any level of sports competition including football, no side wants to conceed defeat to each other and there is bound to be a rivalry of greater proportion.

With the sole ticket to represent WAFU B in the 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League which will hold in Cote D’Ivoire later in the year at stake, both clubs will throw the kitchen sink on each other to secure CAF ticket and trophy on display.

To reach the final, the 2023 NWFL champions, thrashed USFA of Burkina Faso 3-0 in the first Group A tie, beat Sam Nelly FC of Benin Republic

2-0 in the second match and edged Atletico FC of Cote D’Ivoire 3-2 in the semi-final match to qualify for the epic final slated for Thursday in Benin City.

Road to final

Elsewhere in Group B, Delta Queens’s opponents Ampem Darkoa walloped Amis Du Monde (Friends of the World FC) of Togo 4-2 in the first match, defeated Atletico FC of Cote D’Ivoire 3-1 to qualify for the semi-final where they trounced Sam Nelly 6-1 to qualify for the final in grand style.

A closer look at the performance of the two clubs so far in the competition revealed that Ampem Darkoa has scored more goals than Delta Queens as the high-scoring side has banged in a total of 13 goals in three matches and conceded four in the process while Delta Queens scored eight goals and conceded two in three games.

However, the above statistics showed clearly that Ampem Darkoa’s strength is in the potency of the attack with special attention on the two Amponsah attackers-Mary and Ophelia-who have been scoring goals with reckless abandon in each of their three matches in the competition.

In Ampem Darkoa’s first match against Amis Du Monde, Mary Amponsah scored all four goals in the 4-2 thrashing of their opponents from Togo. She scored in 1′, 22, 56, and 65′ respectively.

She repeated the feat in the 3-1 defeat of Athletico in the second group tie as she once again scored a hat trick in the 1′, 17′, and 28′ to top the highest goalscorers chart of the tournament with seven goals.

Interestingly, in Ampem Darkoa’s 6-1 semi-final hammering of Sam Nelly FC from Benin Republic, another player, Tracey Twum emulated the Amponsahs by scoring her own fastest goal and a hat trick too. She scored in the 1, 12′, and 69′ respectively.

Also, Mary Amponsah scored in the 18′; Ophelia Amponsah added a goal in the 44′ while Nancy Amoh scored in the 66′ to show that every player in the team can score goals.

The goalscoring ratio of Ampem Darkoa per match and the penchant for scoring early goals against opponents should worry Delta Queens because the Ghana champions have mastered the art of scoring goals with reckless abandon.

Blankson must re-strategize

It means that the technical crew of Delta Queens led by Tosan Blankson will have to fashion out a winning strategy superior to what Ampem Darkoa Head Coach Joe Nana Adarkwa can offer on the day as any attempt to take the Ghanaians for granted will boomerang.

Already, coach Adarkwa has said lessons have been learned from last year’s disappointment when Ampem Darkoa failed to qualify for the CAF Women’s Champions League after losing 3-0 to another Nigeria side, Bayelsa Queens in the final of WAFU B qualifiers.

With the bitter experience still fresh in the mind of the gaffer, he has prepared his team better this year and the results so far showed that Ampem Darkoa is the title contender and except the host team brings on their A-game to stop the free-scoring Ampem Darkoa, the result will not be favourable for Delta Queens and their supporters.

High-scoring Ampem Darkoa FC of Ghana

But the champions of Nigeria will not surrender without a fight although it struggled before sealing a 3-2 victory over Athletico of Cote d’Ivoire on Monday to book a place in the final of the West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B CAF Women’s Champions League play-off at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.

Substitute Mercy Omokwo’s brace in the 63′ and 98′ as well as team captain, Taiwo Afolabi’s 106′ goal ensured that Delta Queens won the match to qualify for the final.

Coach Blankson’s second-half changes worked but against a highly technical side like Ampem Darkoa, he may have to start a strong team because there may be no second chamce to make a first impression.

However, should Delta Queens FC survive Ampem Darkoa’s firepower to emerge champions and qualify for the 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League final, the management of the club led by Tonobok Okowa, Head of Delegation to the competition in Benin City, will have to rejig the team if they hope to win the coveted trophy which has so far eluded Nigerian clubs.

Both Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt and Bayelsa Queens who represented Nigeria in the first and second editions failed to make a

podium finish in the new competition, a situation which has left Nigeria without the bragging rights of her club side winning the CAF Women’s Champions League title even as Nigeria’s Super Falcons have won the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) trophy a record 11 times.