We played for Ghana not money - Okyere

Black Princesses midfielder Priscilla Okyere has said, the desire to play for the national team was the topmost priority and not on monetary considerations.

The Princesses won two of their group matches to secure six points out of a possible nine, but were unable to advance to the next stage of the competition due to a goal difference disadvantage.

Okyere told GNA Sports “One thing that was at the back of our mind was the inspiration from our coach. He admonished us not to look at the monetary aspect but the motivation to die for the nation. When we wore the national colors, it meant a lot to us. Whether they pay us or not, we didn’t think about the money. We were yearning to make good names for ourselves so that the world will remember what we did”.

She admitted that, inadequate preparation caused their early exit, adding that they also underrated the Koreans in the second group game and this caused them the heavy defeat.

“Against Korea, we underrated them because we thought once we defeated Canada; we could do so to the Koreans. But tactically, they were superior because they have been in camp for two years and it reflected in their play.

“In Ghana, when you qualify for the World Cup, it takes only four months to prepare, but with the other countries, they can take about two years to prepare because they have the facilities but here it’s not the same".

She said, “When we were leaving Ghana our target was to qualify from the group stage because it’s something Ghana hasn’t achieved before. When we played against Canada, we psyched our minds and we wanted a win because that was our first match, though the host nation was tipped favorites, we went for the maximum points but our hopes were crashed when Canada defeated Korea DPR in the last group decider”.

She added that, her focus now is to further her education in the United States to better herself though she has the skills to earn a call-up to the Women Senior National team but doesn’t know when the coach will call her.