Los Angeles, Sept 24, GNA - Mumunatu Sulemana, Black Queens ace goalkeeper who got injured after their courageous opening Group D match against China on Sunday is fit to lead the team in the second group "match for survival" against Russia at the Home Depot Centre Stadium on Thursday.
The goalkeeper who was the toast of fans for her superlative performance against the Chinese ironically played about half the match with the injury, which occurred when she clashed with a Chinese attacker.
The celebrations that followed her extraordinary goalkeeping did not give the technical handlers the faintest clue about the pain the player was going through. In fact, it was only after the "dust" had settled, that the technical handlers noticed the enormity of the injury.
The goalkeeper told the GNA Sports on Wednesday that she was poised and ready to man the posts in their crunch duel against Russia and help showcase the Ghanaian brand of football at the three-week tournament. "I'm fit to join my colleagues on Thursday come what may and I'm of the conviction that we will scale over the first round", the elated goalkeeper said.
Russia won their opening group match 2-1 against bottom placed Australia who play China in the other group match.
Aware that a second defeat will send them packing their bags and baggage to catch the next available plane, both players and handlers have tagged the encounter; "match for survival", and are bent on registering their first ever victory at the world cup.
To attain their objective, the Queens will have to withstand the enormous pressure the match might generate in the face of the blunt attacking formation Alberta Sackey and colleagues exhibited in their opening match.
Knowing the enormity of the task ahead, the Queens' skipper has promised to psyche her colleagues up for "the battle of our lives." She told the GNA Sports that the Russians will have to be sacrificed to ensure that the Queens go past the group stages, to improve on their 1999 performance, where they were bundled out in the first round.
Head Coach, Oko Aryee, reckons however, that the team needs to improve on its speed and stamina to contain the Russians. The coach said he has mapped up a strategy to win the match and enter the history books with the first Ghanaian victory at the Women's World Cup.
"We are more than determined to qualify to the next stage of the competition and will not allow Russia to stand on our way," said Patience Sackey, an influential member of the team.
Courtesy: Pioneer Food Cannery,Tema
