Ghana's renowned sports journalist Saddick Adams has given his take on the Black Queens' possibility of clinching the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations trophy.
The 2018 Women's AFCON draw was made on Sunday night at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana.
The Black Queens will play against Algeria at the Accra Sports Stadium at 3:30 pm. They will later lock horns with Mali on 20th November 2018 at the same venue and play Cameroon three days later.
In an exclusive interview with Saddick Adams, who is the Head of Sports for Atinka Media Village, the renowned journalist elaborated emphatically the hurdles Coach Bashiru Hayford's Queens will encounter.
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"I have always said even after the groupings that it's always going to be very difficult. This is a tournament we've not won before and as the football connoisseurs will say, the first trophy is always the most difficult because you need to break boundaries, jinx and traditions to win, and so even if you get to the semi-finals, a whole lot of jitteriness in your legs, a whole lot of butterflies in your stomach." Saddick told PrimenewsGhana.com
Saddick Adams popularly called "Sportsobama", upon observing the draw yesterday night analysed the Black Queens' chances of advancing to the next stage of the tourney.
"If you look the groupings, Mali is a tough opponent, Cameroon ever present, I think they will be the toughest opponent in that group, Algeria might as well be as difficult as they were in the North Africa qualifiers but the fact is we are playing in front of our fans, we are hosting for the first time. They need to get the adrenaline to push them to win, I think we might qualify with Cameroon to the next stage.
He explicitly described the 'host and win' utterance as a very difficult task but believes playing on home soil with the support from the fans can make the 'dream' feasible.
"Winning the tournament as I said will be very difficult, it would be a bonus but I think that everything is possible in football especially when you are playing in front of your own fans and on your home soil." He concluded.
The 2018 AWCON will kick off on November 17 and end on December 1st.