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Soccer News of Wednesday, 9 April 2003

Source: gna

Black Queens receive first training allowance

The national women soccer team, Black Queens, last Friday received their maiden weekly training allowance of 50,000 cedis each.

The Queens who have been in camp for the past six weeks were expecting to receive allowances covering the six weeks that they had been in camp but "this dream was dashed when we were paid for only one out of the six weeks.

Information gathered by the GNA Sports, said the team was promised the rest of the allowance by the close of the week. Some players the GNA Sports spoke to expressed unhappiness about the way things were being handled and called on the officials concerned to seek the welfare of the players and to do things that would motivate them to give off their best.

Indications are that the Ministry of Youth and Sports is yet to release money to meet payment of the teams bonuses after several weeks of application by the Ghana Football Association (GFA). It is not known whether the recent reshuffle at the ministry could further prolong the payments.

It became clear in an interaction with a couple of players that the players are not generally happy with their feeding which majority of them described as awful. Irrespective of the complaints, moral in camp could be said to be at its peak as the players, according on coach Aryee, are gradually improving and mastering their roles.

The coach commended the FA for releasing the official bus of the Black Stars to the team saying "the availably of the bus has been very helpful in the sense that the team is able to train at the beach and play friendly games with local teams when possible"

Adununoo yearn for national team selection

Georgina Adununoo, 20, a former striker with Dansoman Ladies said she has what it takes to help the Black Queens win the World Cup and therefore demands an invitation from the technical team.

Adununoo who walked into the offices of the GNA Sports on Tuesday to lay claim to a striking role in the female national team said she is smarter and fitter than those in the team and there is no other striker that can equal her abilities at the moment.

The player said though her favourite position is playing on top of the team, she is also comfortable operating from the right flank. "I have the speed and the skills to score the goals for the national team and my exclusion from the team would be a great disincentive to us the young players upon whose shoulders the future of Ghana's female football lies."

She said last year she did not give football her full time because of school but now that she is out of school she has decided to make soccer her profession and therefore devotes much time to it culminating in the superlative form that she is in at the moment. "I am a professional player with Alfa F/C of Lome, Togo and after playing for them in Cotonou, many clubs from Benin and Nigeria are at my heels.

"Tell coach Aryee that he should not gamble with Ghana's chances by leaving me out of the China train. I could be his ace if the Queens play the big girls in the competition," she said.