Black Princesses captain Grace Adams has reiterated the need for the team to hold their head high despite the defeat to the Korea DPR.

It all started so promisingly for Ghana as the Princesses kicked off their 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign in the best possible manner with a 1-0 victory over hosts Canada, further fuelling the players’ dreams of advancing from the group stage for the first time.

Even coach, Bashir Hayford, even went as far as to claim that his side was contenders for the trophy. However, a 3-0 reverse at the hands of Korea Republic soon brought the Black Princesses crashing back down to earth, leaving them languishing in third place in the group.

Amid the potential for doom and gloom, the smiling, yet determined face of Ghana captain Grace Adams represents a beacon of hope for the Africans.

She makes no bones about what went wrong last time out, however. “They were faster than us and always first to the ball. We were too slow. It’s tough when you’re defending for the whole match and every time you look to clear your lines and get back into your stride, the ball just keeps on coming back. We barely had time to draw breath.”

“It’s tough when you’re defending for the whole match and every time you look to clear your lines and get back into your stride, the ball just keeps on coming back. We barely had time to draw breath.

The starlet is nevertheless confident that she and her team-mates can bounce back.

“We never got down on ourselves” stressed the schemer, who inherited the armband owing to the injury that has kept Beatrice Sesu out of the tournament.

“We know that we’ve still got room for improvement and, above all, that we still have a chance of qualifying. So why would we be sad. We’re trying to think about the next match, not the previous one. We have to look forward, not backwards.”