FIFA U-20 WWC: Our target is to go beyond the group stages —Black Princesses Coach

Head coach of Black Princess, Ben Fokuo says the team’s target at the upcoming Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) U-20 Women’s World Cup (WWC) is to go beyond the group stages.

The Black Princesses booked a spot at the U-20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Costa Rica, after beating their Ethiopians counterpart 2-1 at the Accra Sports Stadium in the second leg encounter, edging them 5-1 on aggregate.

The gallant U-20 female national team would be making their sixth appearance at the football showpiece come August but have never progressed beyond the group stages of the competition.

According to the gaffer, the aim of participating in the World Cup was to progress beyond the group stages, something they had set their sights on.

“We would try our best to qualify from the group stage and that is our target. Once we have qualified, we must come back and make sure the areas we need to strengthen we do that, because the world cup is different,” he said at a post-match interview.

Speaking about their two-legged encounter with the Ethiopians, Coach Fokuo said: “After our first game in Ethiopia, we needed to come back to prepare for the second leg, because the Ethiopians are a very good side, we can’t underrate them.

"For me, it was a nice and competitive which everyone was expecting because it was the last game for the world cup in Costa Rica.

“The girls played well although we didn't win by the goals margin we wanted to. We won 3:0 in Ethiopia so we wanted to score more than three goals here. It didn't happen but the girls have done well.”

The 2022 edition of the biennial tournament is scheduled to be staged in Costa Rica from Wednesday, 10 August, to Sunday, 28 August 2022.