Captain Mukarama Abdulai scored all goals as Ghana strolled to a 5-1 victory away to Gambia in the Caf Qualifiers for the 2018 Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup on Saturday.
The Black Maidens, who were among six teams to get a preliminary round bye, travelled to Gambia for the first leg fixture in the first round Africa qualifying staged at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
It took Coach Evans Adotey’s girls just two minutes to open the scoring through skipper Mukarama who doubled the advantage ten minutes later.
The Northern Ladies striker then followed up with a quick-fire brace in the 26th and 28th minutes, giving Ghana a 4-0 lead.
The Baby Scorpions of Gambia managed to get one back through Fatoumata Sowe three minutes before the break.
It appeared there would be no more goals in the second half until the 86th minute when Mukarama, again, found the back of the net with her fifth on the day.
The Black Maidens head home with a 5-1 advantage ahead of the second leg scheduled for December 17 at the Cape Coast Stadium.
After this hurdle, Ghana will face the winner between Tunisia and Libya or Djibouti in the second round of the qualifiers scheduled for February next year.
Three winners of the second and last round will book a ticket to represent Africa at the 2018 Fifa U-17 World Cup.
Uruguay 2018, which has been scheduled for November 20 to December 13, will be the sixth edition of the Fifa U-17 World Cup tournament. Ghana has participated in all previous five editions.
Lineups:
Ghana XI: Grace Banwaa – Tedinah-Sekyere, Adama Alhassan, Justice Tweneboah, Blessing Agbomadzi, Nina Norshie, Suzzy Dede Teye, Azumah Bugre, Mukarama Abdulai (C), Patience Kundork, Abigail Tutuwaa
Subs: Evelyn Yeboah, Eugenia Tetteh, Jacqueline Owusu, Doris Boaduaa, Milot Pokuaa, Barikisu A. Rahman, Ama B. Appiah.
Gambia XI: Matty Manga – Penda Colley, Bintou Ceesay, Fatou Lowe, Fatou Sowe, Ola Buwaro, Sarjo Duganda,Catherine Jatta, Fatou Sonko, Fatoumata Sowe, Fatty Fatty.
Subs: Kumba Camara, Mariama Sanyang, Abie Colley, Kumba Kuyateh, Sally Ceesay, Kaddy Bayo.
