An Anita Amankwah goal in the second half was enough to seal a hard-fought victory for Ghana as the Black Queens beat South Africa’s Bayana Bayana 1-0 in the qualifiers for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Ghana, seeking her maiden qualification in Olympic soccer is perched at the summit of the three-nation group with a hundred percent record after two rounds of matches with six points.
The group initially four was reduced to three following the withdrawal Ethiopia from the qualifiers.
South Africa, who are yet to record a win after two matches remain at the bottom of the table as they failed to give their home fans at the Caledonian Stadium in Pretoria a good treat with an expected victory.
After a goalless first half, Ghana returned in the second half looking much stronger in attack with good display from captain, Adjoa Bayor and teenage sensation Anita Amankwah.
And just some minutes past the half-hour mark, Amankwah did what the doctors prescribed, as she made sure Ghana deservedly went ahead scoring the games opener and winner for the Black Queens.
With two more games to go, Ghana’s Olympic debut dream remains on course after the group was thrown wide open following the withdrawal Ethiopian thus leaving the two sides in today’s game and Nigeria to compete for the single slot available to Africa.
The Black Queens secured an important home win over Nigeria a fortnight ago.
Ghana is yet to taste Olympic football action in the women’s competition after narrowly missing out of the last edition when the Nigerians edged out the Black Queens in the final game.
The top placed team at the end of the qualifiers automatically qualifiers for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, while the runners-up engage Brazil in play off for the other slot.