'Our mission is to get back to No.1 in Africa' - Black Queens’ Nora Häuptle ahead of Japan friendly

Black Queens Head Coach, Nora Häuptle, has reaffirmed the team’s focus on getting back to the top on the African continent and performing at the highest level.

Speaking to the Japanese press ahead of Saturday’s encounter with the Nadeshiko, the Head Coach reiterated the need to measure the team’s current performance against a top team in the world like Japan, hence the need for this international friendly.

“Our mission is to get back to number one in Africa because in previous women’s tournaments, the Black Queens have been very successful as seen in 1999, 2003, and 2007. The team qualified for the World Cup at some point and we want to bring ourselves back to this level."

"We are back in the Women’s African Cup of Nations, a huge achievement, and as a team, it is important to measure us against the top ten teams in the world.”

On her side's readiness for the game on Saturday, she admitted Japan is a top-class team but the Black Queens will tackle the game in a smart and strategic way.

“We know Japan were World Champions in 2011, and are currently ranked number seven in the world and for us, this is a high-class team. The opposition they provide is exactly what we want so as to improve in different areas such as ball possession.

"We also need to be smart in defence because Japan is very excellent on the ball in good transitioning moments and they observe their opponents very well. We will present a smart game plan by trying to surprise our opponents a little bit and we are really going to see how we end tomorrow’s game," she added.

The game, which will be telecast live on the Ghana Football App, is scheduled for a 06:24 GMT kickoff on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the Go Go Curry Stadium in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.

Japan were World Champions in 2011, and are currently ranked number seven in the world and for us, this is a high-class team.