The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Okraku has urged the players of the U-17 Women’s national team, the Black Maidens to conduct themselves well and work hard in order to make the country proud.
The GFA Boss met with the players and technical team of the Black Maidens at Prampram.
He advised the players not to take their place in the side for granted and, instead work hard to prove that they deserve to be with the team.
‘’Do not take this opening for granted. Because it could have been somebody else, it could have been a friend of yours. You have friends who may be of the same quality, who are not here. However, you are here. Therefore, it is important we conduct ourselves in a way and manner that would ultimately make our nation great and strong,’’ he said.
‘’You being here is part of a process to make our nation great and strong and that will only happen when you are dedicated towards the cause.”
The Black Maidens are currently based at the Ghanaman Centre of Excellence at Prampram, preparing for the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup qualifiers.
Mr Okraku urged the players to put maximum effort into their preparations for the qualifiers as impressive performances for the U-17 team could see them progress into the senior teams like the Princesses and the Black Queens.
“Our coaches belong to the same group of people who also want to make our nation great and strong. Otherwise, they will be somewhere else. Nevertheless, the fact that they are here with you means they believe in the vision. We are here because we want to have individual careers and want our nation to be proud of our hard work,” he added.
”From this platform, you have the potential to go to the U-20, to go to the Black Queens and to have professional careers. Therefore, I will urge all of you to behave well, to think Ghana and to stick to what your team is offering’’