Accra, Nov. 8, GNA - Black Queens coach, Anthony Edusei, has rated defending African Women Champions, Equatorial Guinea, above his team after Ghana succumbed 1-3 in their ultimate Group B game in South Africa.

The Queens faced a must-win game to advance from the group stage but failed to eclipse the Equatorial Guineans who scored once and twice in each half to top Group B and set a semi final meeting with hosts South Africa.

"We played well in the first half but Equatorial Guinea was a better side in the second half," the Coach said in a post-match interview.

Coach Edusei rues the missed opportunities claiming "we had our fair share of chances in the first half but we were unable to take them. Even late in the second half, we had chances which could have changed the game but we did not make good use of them."

Talking the future, the coach said: "Only a battle has been lost and not a war. We will have to reorganize for the future."

This is the second successive time Ghana has exited at the group stage of the biennial gathering in which they have thrice finished as silver medalists.

Ghana exits on three points after beating Algeria 2-1, losing by the same margin to Cameroon before bowing out with a 3-1 loss to the defending champions.

The Queens have made all seven editions of the competition. For this competition, they scored four times through Agnes Aduako and conceded seven goals in three games in South Africa. The outcome means the Queens will for the first time miss the FIFA Women's World Cup slated for Germany in 2011 since the inception of the continental qualifiers. The two finalists in South Africa automatically qualify for the quadrennial global showpiece.