Beaten on the first day of the U20 WAFU-B Girls’ Cup by host country Ghana, Benin finally recorded their first victory with a wide score against Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Benin’s U20 women’s football team beat that of Côte d’Ivoire (5-2) at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi as part of the second day of group A.
It was a bad day for the Ivorians who started Tuesday’s game with a lot of mistakes leading to an autogoal in the 26th minute of the game. Three minutes later, on a set piece from Beninese captain Mahugnon Zinsou, the ball hit the crossbar before passing through the back of Ivory Coast goalkeeper Rosine Diarra to finish in the back of the net. 2-0 Before the Half-time.
Upon returning from the locker room, the Ivorians seemed to have regained energy. Essi Dagba managed to break through on the opposing side in (49th) before her compatriot Amenan Nidri found the equalizer a few minutes later.
2-2, a balance that Benin obviously did not want to hold for long. The players of Ouzerou Abdoulaye, the Beninese coach, will put pressure on their opponents until they obtain two penalties which were all converted consecutively by Milhad Sadikou (64′, 70′). That’s not all! Benin still managed to make it more difficult for Ivory Coast with the signing of Imorou in the 81st minute.
The two teams therefore separated with a score of 5-2. Benin has thus climbed to second position in Group A after Ghana who beat them last week.
This Wednesday will be marked by two matches counting for the second day of group B of the WAFU-B U20 tournament, with a clash between Niger and Burkina Faso at 3:00 p.m. GMT and Togo against Nigeria at 6:00 p.m.