Ghanaian champions, Ampem Darkoa Ladies, will face Sporting Club Casablanca of Morocco in the semifinals of the ongoing 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pédro, Cote I’voire, today at 8 p.m.
Tagged as the novices duel, both teams are 90 minutes away from a dream final with African powerhouses, Mamelodi Sundowns or AS FAR Rabat, for a shot at the coveted trophy as well as a cash prize of $400,000.
The Techiman-based girls, a surprise package at this year’s tournament, have already sent shockwaves across the continent after coming back from a goal down to beat the defending champions, AS FAR, 2-1 in their opening game.
Shockingly, just when everyone expected them to pluck another victory in their second game against Mali side, AS Mande, they fell to a 3-0 defeat before accounting for Huracanes FC of Equatorial Guinea 3-1 to secure passage to the semi-finals at their first attempt.
They are already $200,000 richer but they cannot be complacent since Coach Joe Nana Adarkwa remains aware of what is in store for them tonight.
Speaking yesterday ahead of today’s game, Coach Adarkwa said they came for the trophy, and as it stands now, Casablanca stands in their way.
“We want to get to the finals, and for this, we will have to work hard and see what happens.”
“We adopted a style against fellow Moroccan side, AS FAR, and defeated them in the group stage. We will approach today’s game in a similar manner.”
According to him, people wrote them off at the start of the tournament, but in the first game against AS FAR Rabat, the team’s performance in that game sent a strong message to the other teams.
On their part, SC Casablanca will be looking to ink their names in the history books of African football with a victory over the Ghanaian side, but they are well aware it will not come on a silver platter.
The coach of the side, Medhi El Quichori, believes today’s game will not be easy for them, but they are very well prepared for the task ahead, and they will throw everything into the game to make sure they get to the finals, where they are hoping to meet their sisters, AS FAR Rabat.
