Gyan & Ayew Joins Kwesi Appiah As Mali Beat Black Queens

Head coach of the Black Stars, James Akwasi Appiah, Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew were at the Accra Sports Stadium as the Black Queens suffered a 2-1 defeat against their Malian counterparts in the 2018 Africa Women's Cup of Nations (AWCON).

The Black Stars skipper and his deputy were spotted at the stadium after a meeting with Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The pair would be disappointed as they watch the tournament hosts crash to a 2-1 defeat in Group A.

The Malian scored the only goal of the first half in the 38 minutes.

Black Queens lost possession and Patricia in post in her quest to save the situation brought down Bassira Toure.

Toure stepped forward to score perfectly from the spot kick to put his side in the driving seat.

After the recess, Ghana came into the game and pinned their Malian counterparts to their own half.

But they fluffed the opportunities that came their way, coupled with fantastic goalkeeping from the Malian goalkeeper to deny Ghana the much-needed equaliser.

Portia Boakye wasted several chances in both the first and second halves of the game- She failed to hit any of the balls on target.

In one of those moves, Sharifatu Sumaila in a solo run in the 50th minute after taking on three players curled the ball with her left foot, yet the goalkeeper for the Malians in a spectacular fashion parried the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.

However, their persistence paid off following the introduction of the captain of the team Elizabeth Addo.

Sharifatu Sumaila forcefully won a ball and put Elizabeth Addo the skipper through and he was brought down in the 18-yard box.

The referee awarded a penalty which was connected home by Addo to give Ghana the equalizer.

However, few minutes later Mali restored their lead once again through Bassira Toure- She registered the goal from a goal mouth melee after the goalkeeper Mantey had been beaten to the ball following a challenge.

Bassira Toure was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the game.