Sports News of Tuesday, 23 April 2019

Source: footballghana.com

No foreign-based players for WAFU tournament - Black Queens coach insists

Black Queens coach Mercy Tagoe Black Queens coach Mercy Tagoe

Black Queens coach Mercy Tagoe says she will only feature locally-based players at the 2019 West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B Women's tournament in Cote d’Ivoire next month.

The veteran trainer led Ghana's senior female national side to win gold at the 2018 edition of the tournament, which was also held in Cote d’Ivoire.

Her squad then had some foreign-based representation, which she intends to ignore this time around due to the availability of quality players at home, according to the former Ghana international.

"To talk of foreign-based players, everybody is a good player and some of the locally based players are equally good as the foreign-based players," Tagoe said at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday.

"If you have players for all the positions, why then do you go out of the way to invite foreign-based players meanwhile they are busy playing their leagues?"

About 30 players are currently in camp in Cape Coast ahead of the tournament on May 8.

Ghana have been pitted against Mali, reigning African champions Nigeria and Guinea in Group B, while in Group A, hosts Cote d’Ivoire will face Niger, Senegal and Benin.