Ghana and TP Mazembe attacker Thelma Baffour has expressed her readiness to play for the senior women's national team at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco this year.
The 21-year-old played a key part, featuring in five games including a cameo in the final when TP Mazembe annexed the CAF Women's Champions League hosted by Morocco. TP Mazembe defeated host club AS FAR by 1-0 in the final in November last year.
With the Ghana Football Association announcing Swedish trainer Kim Lars Bjorkegren on a 2-year deal as the new coach for the Black Queens following the departure of Nora Hauptle, Thelma is fancying her chances of breaking into the national team for AFCON.
“I’m ever ready [because] football is about opportunities so any opportunity that comes my way, I will go harder [for it].” Thelma Baffour told Pan-Africa Football. Baffour has been narrating the challenges the team encountered during their CAF Champions League journey.
“It wasn’t easy because the first time they played in the CAF Champions League, I was not part of the squad. But I heard the news that they could not reach the group stage of the competition so our aim was to reach far at least go past the group stage last season.
“So our we went into the competition well determined and we were together, everything was strong and well organized. What helped us was, we watched the clips of the teams that would give us problems to study their style of play. It was tough but because of our preparations, things were easy for the entire team,” Baffour told Pan-Africa Football.
She also spoke about how she felt when they finally laid hands on the glittering CAF Women's Champions League trophy in Morocco.
“I didn’t really think about anything but I was proud of myself because I made my manager, my mother, my brother, my friends and my family members proud. Nobody gave me a dog’s chance to reach this level so I was very proud of myself, my family was proud of me, my manager and everybody," Baffour said.
Baffour joined TP Mazembe from Ghana side Jonina Ladies which she helped gain promotion to the top flight of Ghanaian women's football in 2022. The Ghana Football Association has announced that the Black Queens will engage in an international friendly to prepare the team for the continental competition set for July in Morocco his year.
Comments