WAFU B U17 Girls Cup: Black Maidens head coach targets title defence

Black Maidens head coach Joe Nana Adarkwa emphasizes that the WAFU B U17 Girls Cup will serve as a crucial platform in their pursuit of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title. His team aims to retain their regional championship while strengthening their squad for the global competition. The Black Maidens kick off their defense against Burkina Faso on Tuesday, September 16, in a revised round-robin tournament, following Benin's withdrawal.

Adarkwa stresses that the tournament is not solely about accumulating more trophies; rather, it offers a valuable opportunity to assess his players' abilities against some of West Africa's strongest teams ahead of the World Cup. He reiterates, "We are here to compete for the World Cup. We are going to use this tournament to assess our players, prepare them, and go into the World Cup in a way that will give us a good result."

Ghana is the reigning champion, having won the previous edition on home soil. However, Adarkwa acknowledges that maintaining their title will require ongoing improvement: "We are here to compete with the best teams like Nigeria and all the other teams here. If you want to compete with the best, you have to strengthen your team."

The coach attributes the team's heightened confidence and motivation to the fact that they are defending champions: "Everything is high because we are defending champions. The last one we played in Ghana, we won it, so the spirit is already high. We are here to defend it." Captain Seidatu Wahab echoes this sentiment, stating that the squad has adopted a winning mentality in anticipation of their opening game: "We are here to defend the trophy, as my coach said, so we have a positive mindset of winning tomorrow's game."

Wahab highlights that the team's preparations since securing qualification have left them strong and ready to challenge for another regional title: "With the training we have had since our qualifiers, we are strong and ready for this tournament. I believe in my teammates. We know what we can do, and that's why we are here."