Accra, Feb 14, GNA - Thousands of football supporters who heeded the call by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to throng the Accra Sports Stadium to support the Black Queens to victory against their Nigerian counterparts were left distraught and shell shocked as the Ghanaians lost on penalties in an inexplicable manner.

The defeat, which knocked the Ghanaians out of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games was too bitter for them to swallow as they watched the Queens throw away three consecutive penalty kicks after taking a two goal lead to end the kicks 3-2 in favor of the Falcons of Nigerians. The turn -out of supporters which was probably the largest ever seen at the Accra Sports stadium in a long time saw them filling every inch of space in their "red attire" reflecting the festive mood of Valentine which fell today.

The fans who sat on tenterhooks through the match which swung from one end to another could not control their emotions any longer as Skipper Memunatu in post saving two consecutive penalties to put Ghana in the lead.

Chants like "Inside the net" "Send your power, Holy Ghost power" when the Queens were about to take their penalty kicks and "Away, Away" when it was the turn of the Falcons, reverberated at a deafening pitch around the stadium as it appeared the Nigerian dominance over the Ghanaians in women football was coming to an end.
But by twist of fate, the Ghanaians threw away kick after kick from their third penalty to see their lead fizzle out as the Nigerians scored to draw level up the scores.
What broke the heart of the teeming fans was when former skipper, Alberta Sackey could not hold her nerves and casually allowed the Nigerian goalkeeper to save her kick that saw the Queens being knocked out.
Most of the lady supporters, who were in a prayerful mood before the last Ghanaian kick could not believe what they saw and remained glued to the spot as they appeared lost in thought and not knowing what to do next.
While some remained motionless and watched the Nigerians jubilate on the field, others quietly filed out of the stadium trying to find answers to questions on what went wrong. One lady supporter clad in red told the GNA Sports that it was the first time she had come to the stadium and this might probably be her last as she cannot bear the emotional trauma that the game has brought to her.
In the game itself, the Falcons took the lead in the second half from a goalmouth melee only for the Queens to level up from a corner kick five minutes later.
The game then swung from one end to the other with both teams coming close on a number of occasions but could not find the net to end 120 minutes of football and after the extra time.
The two teams then were on a 2-2 aggregate because of their earlier game that ended by a similar one all in Ibadan, Nigeria two weeks ago. Before the game, a musical concert meant as a motivating factor and to add more spice to the occasion, a musical concert involving musicians like VIP, Tic Tac, Sydney, Antwi-Nantwi, Sony Achiba, King David and Batman among others performed to entertain the huge crowd in attendance. 14 Feb GNA