Calm confidence: Amenyeku wins best goalie prize
The best goalkeeper of the just-ended WAFU Zone B Under-20 Girls' Cup, Afi Amenyeku, has attributed her outstanding performance in the tournament to calmness and confidence in the posts.
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She said her cool composure on the field enabled her to control her defenders and also rise to the occasion whenever the need arose.
The Black Princesses shot-stopper said although her mistake enabled Nigeria to cancel a first-half lead late into last Saturday's final in Kumasi, she did not let that howler dampen her spirit for the remainder of the match but composed herself again for the penalty shootout which she made three key saves to give Ghana a 3-1 victory. The match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
Amenyeku, who plies her trade with Northern Ladies FC in the Women's Premier League, told the media after Ghana's triumph that she trained very well for the penalty shootout and knew that if the game went into a tiebreaking shootout, she would make a name for herself.
The slender shot-stopper admitted that the Nigeria game was the toughest of the tournament as her team came under pressure during last Saturday's final.
She conceded just three goals throughout the tournament as the Princesses got off to a 3-0 win against Benin, defeated Cote d'Ivoire 3-1 and accounted for Burkina Faso by the same scoreline in the semi-finals before their shootout win over free-scoring Nigeria in the final last Saturday to be chosen as the tournament's best goalie.
Ghana Coach, Yussif Basigi, also shared the same sentiment that the Nigerians were the best-organised team the Princesses met in the tournament.
He said the Princesses' game plan was to cut out supplies to the key players of the Nigerian team and make them inefficient.
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“And the girls really played to instructions and did exactly what we planned,” he said in a post-match interview.
He commended the girls for playing their hearts out and marking the key players of the Nigerian team.
“We studied their style of play and know that if we mark them out, we can neutralise the team,” he said.
