Mercy Myles is still revelling in the joy of a World Cup qualification after leading Ghana’s Black Maidens to qualify for the first ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Ghana, who got off to a poor start in the final African qualifying phase after two successive losses to Nigeria and Cameroon, managed to stay in contention of reaching the finals of the tournament to be hosted by New Zealand later in October after beating their two group opponents.
The Black Maidens picked a 1-0 home victory against Nigeria before going over to Yaounde last weekend to record a 2-1 win over the Cameroonians, sealing their place at the World Cup.
According Myles, captain of the Black Maidens, she was marveled at the response of her colleagues as they rallied back to secure qualification.
But she admits that it was a difficult qualifying run to endure when hope appeared lost after two successive defeats.
“We made things difficult after losing our second match at the Ohene Djan Stadium. We lost away first to Nigeria before falling to Cameroon at home.
“But that (game against Cameroon) was a match we should have won. We missed a number of chances and allowed them to win the match. It was really difficult.
“And we had Nigeria coming over next. That game was also another tough match as we had to score late on to win. It brought us back into the picture.
“That win gave us hope. We also knew we could beat Cameroon. But playing them away was not going to be not easy. Our coaches gave us hope and told us to believe in ourselves,” Mercy Myles told www.ghanafa.org.
The Black Maidens believed in their abilities but Cameroon took the lead and it looked like another sad day for the girls.
However, Ghana’s belief remained unshaken as the Black Maidens drew level with Isha Fordjour getting the equaliser before Florence Dadson’s winner sparked wild on the Black Maidens' bench. And that was the goal which qualified Ghana to the World Cup.
“We were playing well until they scored. We did not give up and also scored before scoring again to win.
“After making it 1-1, we knew it could be possible to beat them and we did it. After the game, we were so happy.
“We feel proud to being the first side to qualify for the World Cup at this level.”