Coach Kwesi Appiah joins Gyan & Ayew as Black Queens suffer defeat against Mali

Coach James Kwesi Appia and Asamoah Gyan, the Black Stars skipper and his deputy Andre Ayew were at the Accra Sports Stadium as the Black Queens suffered a 2-1 defeat against their Malian counterparts in the 2018 Africa Womens Cup of Nations (AWCON)

Gyan and Ayew moved to the stadium after a meeting with Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House.

The duo were reportedly at the seat of government to thank the President of the Republic of Ghana for visiting the Black Stars in Ethiopia when they faced the East Africans in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

They would be disappointed as they watch the tournament hosts crash to a 2-1 defeat in Group A.

The Malian scored the only goal of the first half in the 38 minute. Ghana lost possession and Patricia in post in her quest to save the situation brought down Bassira Toure.

The Malian number 9 Toure stepped forward to score perfectly from the spot kick to put his side in the driving seat.

After the interval the Black Queens came into the game and pinned their Malian counterparts to their own half.

But they fluffed the opportunities that came their way, coupled with fantastic goalkeeping from the Malian goalkeeper to deny Ghana the much needed equaliser.

Portia Boakye wasted several chances in both the first and second halves of the game- She failed to hit any of the balls on target.

In one of those moves Sharifatu Sumaila in a solo run in the 50th minute after taking on three players, curled the ball with her left foot, yet the goalkeeper for the Malians in a spectacular fashion parried the ball over the cross bar for a corner kick.

However, their persistence paid off following the introduction of the captain of the team Elizabeth Addo.

Sharifatu Sumaila forcefully won a ball and put Elizabeth Addo the skipper through and he was brought down in the 18-yard box.

The referee awarded a penalty which was connected home by Addo to give Ghana the equalizer.

However, few minutes later Mali restored their lead once again through Bassira Toure- She registered the goal from a goal mouth melee after the goalkeeper Mantey had been beaten to the ball following a challenge.

Bassira Toure was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the game.