Nora Hauptle, the head coach of Ghana’s senior women’s national team, the Black Queens, has asked for more high-profile friendlies after their failures to get past Zambia in the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifying.
Before the doubleheader penultimate round of qualifiers, the Black Queens, have lost just once in 11 games, but Zambia proved a difficult test for Ghana.
The Swiss trainer believes exposing her team to grade A matches before tough games like will strengthen their resilience.
"We just need to learn and get more of these high pressure games it is a very young squad a very hungry squad and they have talent and as a head coach I am very proud I love my team,” the Swiss trainer said after the game.
The first leg of the qualifier saw Zambia emerge victorious with a narrow 1-0 win at the Accra Sports Stadium, putting Ghana on the back foot early in the series.
Despite the setback, Häuptle remained optimistic, believing her team had the capacity to turn the result in the return leg.
However, the return leg in Ndola proved to be another tough battle for the Black Queens. Although they managed to draw 3-3 with Zambia, it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit from the first leg.
The aggregate scoreline of 4-3 in favor of Zambia sealed Ghana's fate, dashing their hopes of progressing in the qualifiers.