Black Queens follow the Oregon trail

( FIFAworldcup.com)
Updated: 2003-09-17 21:04

When Ghana lost to China 7-0 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 1999, Simon Osei Agyemang knew that something was amiss. The Ghanaian businessman, whose daughter is a member of the Black Queens, decided that the side did not have the proper time to prepare. And four years later he was determined not to let the same mistakes be made. The result: the Ghanaians have spent six weeks far away from West Africa, in suburban Oregon, preparing for the finals.

“In 1999, there was very little preparation in terms of when Ghana came to America,” said Osei Agyemang. “After losing 7-0 to China, given the skill of our players, I knew that something must be wrong. I really believed that we had a good team, and I just didn’t want that to happen again.”

So, with the help of a local football club and the local Ghanaian community, he helped bring the team to Oregon where they have lived and played, hoping to make a larger splash on the world football scene than ever before.

Getting acclimated

Training and playing in the same area offers numerous benefits. The time-zone and weather differences are obvious, but Ofei Agyemang also wanted to expand the way the players saw the game, something they had a chance to do in a series of friendly matches against local university and regional teams.

“It was part of the goal for them to learn something about playing simple football, about getting results,” he explained. “I think it is very beneficial in terms of them learning what other teams are like and how they prepare. The game is not necessarily always about being fancy – it’s about putting the ball in the net.”

Ghana coach Oko Aryee agrees that the Black Queens have learned much in their time in the Pacific Northwest.

“It has worked out extremely well,” he said. “We have gotten acclimated to the weather, and played eight friendly games against quality opponents. That would not have been possible had we trained in Ghana.”

“The good thing is that the coach was open-minded,” said Ofei Agyemang. “I invited him here for a month, and I took him around to see football in America, from youth to club to university teams. We watched their training and activities and saw their facilities, and I think that convinced him about being here and what playing many of these teams could bring to Ghana.”

Southside scores

When Ofei Agyemang was finalising his plans, he happened upon Mike Morris of the Southside Soccer Club, a youth football organisation in Tigard, Oregon. With the help of Morris, the team managed to raise money, play friendlies and generally manage to get around.

“Luckily, (Morris) was very forward looking, and I can’t say enough about the help they’ve provided,” said Ofei Agyemang. “Without (Southside Soccer’s) help, I don’t know that it would have worked. They helped with scheduling, they provided volunteer drivers and a lot of other things.”

“Being in Oregon has been good because we've played some quality teams that we wouldn't have had the chance to play in Ghana,” reflected Ghanaian goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana. “When we are in Ghana we are the best, and it is hard to find teams to play at our skill level unless we play the men. Here we are challenging ourselves. The facilities here are very good as well. The club has been very good to us.”

For the club, there was the opportunity to help out the Africans and also to promote their local tournaments and teams.

“Besides the obvious benefit to the tournament,” said Morris. “The club's objective in sponsoring the team was to expose the youth soccer players of our community to a team of this quality.”

Along with helping the team, the Oregonians have also become quite attached to the Black Queens.

“As to the World Cup games in Portland,” continued Morris. “We expect that Ghana will be widely supported in their game against Australia in the preliminary round … The club will certainly have a lot of members in attendance.”