Ibadan, Nigeria Feb 1, GNA - Memunatu Sulemana played above the ordinary to inspire the Black Queens to a 1-1 draw with their Nigerian counterparts, the Super Falcons in their first leg semi final Athens Olympic Games elimination played at the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan on Saturday.
The stocky goalkeeper stood between Nigeria and a goal feast as she pulled spectacular saves throughout the match to enable the Queens to pick a vital point from this away encounter.
Mamunatu stunned the Nigerians when she saved from four yards, a powerful shot on 80 minutes from Stella Mbachu who was quite a handful for the Ghanaian defenders throughout the match.
Ghana kicked off and swung into attack immediately, as they passed the ball excellently from mid-field and created a chance for Gloria Adjoa Foriwa who thundered a volley just wide off the right upright.
The Queens sustained the pressure and got the opener on five minutes through Yaa Avoe when she sneaked behind the Nigerians rear guard to spike a teasing ball from the right, which was provided by Tahiru Ramanatu.
Inspired by the stunner, the Ghanaians surged forward, as they stroke the ball through space, making it difficult for the Falcons to settle down to any constructive play, but arrowhead, Akua Anokyewa failed to make hay with the early opportunities, thereby denying the Queens a bigger lead within the first quarter hour.
The trend or proceedings soon changed, as the Ghanaians recoiled into their defensive shells while the Nigerians gradually gained in confidence, with Mbachu doing some fantastic dribbling runs down the right flank and providing deep crosses into the Queens penalty area.
Mavis Danso's pace appeared too slow for the Nigerian speedster, as she constantly sprinted ahead of the stocky Ghanaian left back who however displayed a lot of commitment from the manner in which she chased her adversary.
From that moment, it required the agility and anticipation of Memunatu to thwart the sporadic forward march of the Nigerians as she denied Mercy Akide at the half hour mark and moments later, the agile goalie made mincemeat of a powerful drive from Nkechi Egbe.
The Ghanaians remained in their defensive third to soak the pressure from the Falcons who revved harder from all fronts, looking for the equaliser.
Elizabeth Baidoo stood tall in defence as she organised Danso, skipper Genevive Clottey, Ibrahim Aminatu and Florence Oko to form a barrier, thereby compelling the Nigerians to shoot from afar.
Okoe broke loose from time to time to punch holes in the Falcon's defence but on most occasions, there was no Ghanaian upfront to support the attack.
Early in the second half, Memunatu had to rise to the occasion with a great save from Egbe and at the other side, Anokyewa shot across goal with no Ghanaian available to tap in as the ball rolled teasingly into touch for a goal kick.
The dominance of the Nigerians continued, as the Ghanaians lived dangerously and it was either resolute defending or good goalkeeping from Memunatu that enabled them to keep their lead to the other side of the hour mark.
Then tragedy struck the Queens on 68 minutes, as the defenders blundered with a pull out from the right and for the first time in the match, Memunatu missed the ball, as it fell to rampaging Egbe who squeezed it home to even the scores, sending the Nigerian fans into a frenzy and expectant anxiety.
The Falcons pressed forward and coach Oko Aryee was forced to make three changes but that did not change the pattern of play and once again, the Queens needed the brilliance of Memunatu to survive, as she made a great save on the 90th minutes to keep the scores at Ghana 1, Nigeria 1.
Ghana will host Nigeria in two weeks time in Accra and the winner will meet the winner of the match between South Africa and Angola with the ultimate winner picking the lone spot for Africa at the Athens Olympic Games.
From Richard Avornyotse, GNA special correspondent in Ibadan, Nigeria