Hayford: It’ll be a bit ‘intimidating’ against Canada

The coach of the Black Princesses Bashir Hayford has confessed that being paired with hosts Canada at the 2014 Under-20 Women’s World Cup puts a lot of pressure on Ghana.

He said “it will be a bit intimidating with that crowd” but they are going to put in a great deal of hard work from now on to deploy strategies that will mute the home support.

Ghana will open their game in Toronto against Canada following the draw on Saturday. Also in Group A are former champions Korea DPR and Finland. The 20-day tournament begins on August 5 to 24. Four Canadian cities - Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, and Moncton - will host the 16-nation competition.

Speaking in a post-draw interview, Hayford said: “All eyes will be on us. It will be a bit intimidating with that crowd. But we’ll have supporters in Toronto too. I know they will galvanize and come and support us. If we can win, our confidence will be built for subsequent games. We are going to play very well.”

“Every country wants to win the cup,” Hayford added. “That's why we're competing. If you ask me about my expectations, I'll tell you: we want to win the cup.”

The tournament will be Ghana’s third successive trip to the U-20 World Cup, but have never gone past the group phase.

Canada coach Andrew Olivieri has described the group as “an easy” one. “We definitely didn't expect an easy group,” said the former Montreal Impact goalkeeper. “We were anxious. It's a great group.”

FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup draw:

Group A: Canada, Ghana, Finland, Korea DPR

Group B: Germany, USA, China PR, Brazil

Group C: England, Korea Republic, Mexico, Nigeria

Group D: New Zealand, Paraguay, France, Costa Rica