Ghana defeated Algeria 4-2 on penalties following an uninspired 0-0 draw in their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal, sending the Fennecs home despite not conceding a goal in the tournament.
The Black Queens now advance to a semifinal against tournament hosts Morocco in Rabat on Tuesday, while Algeria — for whom Marine Dafeur and Ines Belloumou both had penalties saved by Cynthia Konlan — will rue not being able to find a cutting edge to complement their impregnable defence.
The North Africans’ defensive performance had been one of the talking points of the group stage, with Les Fennecs not conceding across their opening three fixtures, including a 0-0 draw with title favourites Nigeria in Casablanca.
That watertight defence secured them first ever progression to the WAFCON knockouts, and they relied on these familiar strengths again against a Ghana side coming fresh off a 4-1 win over Tanzania in their last group game.
The Black Queens thought they’d forged the opener in the 27th minute when Stella Nyamekye thought she’d finally beaten goalkeeper Chloe N’Gazi, only for VAR to intervene and deem the goal offside.
Ghoutia Karchouni, who scored the winner against Botswana to ultimately see Algeria through to the knockouts, was a rare creative presence for the North Africans, setting up Dafeur for a decent effort in the 22nd minute, only for her shot to be blocked by the closing defenders.
The lively Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah threatened Algeria’s backline when they afforded her space, firing wide only moments before after being played in by Jennifer Cudjoe.
Doris Boaduwaa and Grace Asantewaa began to combine more effectively for Ghana at the start of the second half, with the former sending a decent attempt wide soon after the break, although Algeria still offered an occasional threat of their own, with Dafeur being denied by Konlan with a long-range effort just after the hour mark.
As the contest went on, the energy of both sides ebbed, with various Algeria players struggling with injury, and the entrance of Evelyn Badu for Ghana failing to help them intensify their efforts to break the deadlock.
Algeria’s attempts to build some momentum in midfield were too frequently halted by poor control, heavy touches or misplaced passes, while Ghana appeared unable to resist playing into the Fennecs’ hands and conceding cheap fouls.
Indeed, the contest was mottled with stoppages as each side grew increasingly frustrated in the hot conditions in Berkane, with the Confederation of African Football’s technical team noting that a whopping 57 fouls were committed during the course of a lacklustre contest that produced only five yellow cards.
With nothing to separate them at the end of the 90 minutes, the contest went to extra time, with Boye-Hlorkah fashioning several good chances for herself only to be let down by her finishing, and Boaduwaa twice getting sight of goal, only to be denied by N’Gazi.
Algeria had a chance of their own, through Nihed Naili, but a momentary hesitation allowed Ghana to squeeze her out.
ESPN
