Black Maidens coach Evans Adotey has ren¬dered an apology for his side's exit from the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica.

Ghana bowed out of the competition under bizarre circumstances - losing 3-4 from the spot after a 2-2 score line against their Ital- l counterparts last Thursday.

Despite the early exit, the team arrived home from Costa Rica to a rousing welcome at the Kotoka International Airport on Saturday. They were met on arrival by GFA Executive Committee member Linear Addy, Alex Asante, Protocol Director of GFA and others.

The Maidens who recorded two straight wins to book a quarter -final ticket, played all the good football, but bizarre officiating from a Japanese referee robbed them of a semifinal berth.

"We are very sorry for the early exit. Our target was to go beyond where our predecessors got to or maintain the third position they won, but unfortunately the woman at the centre stifled our dreams.

"The referee frustrated us. Every move was an infringement against us, she even cautioned me that I was screaming. I didn't want to take the matter far. It would have been a different scenario.

"I want to thank the GFA for their unflinching port and all who supported us in diverse ways," coach Adotey said.

The coach denied the match fixing allegation in their game against Canada saying, "We didn't play it soft. Complacency gripped the players, so by tine time they realized we were down, it was late. We also had many injury situations,