It was the Oumou Kone show on Thursday evening out at San Pedro’s Laurent Pokou stadium, as the lethal forward’s trio of goals saw As Mande go top of Group B after a 3-0 win over Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa on Thursday evening.
Desperate for a win after drawing their opening match against Huracanes of Equatorial Guinea on Monday, AS Mande were moving like a well-oiled machine against the Ghanaians in a match they completely dominated from start to finish.
Kone, who was a threat to the Huracanes defense throughout the encounter opened the scoring charts in the 40th minute to give her side the confidence boosting lead ahead of the break.
Coming back from the break, the striker continued from where she left off in being a troublesome in the danger area.
The second and third came in quick succession after Kone headed home from a corner in the 71st minute before doing the same from a delightful ball in the 72nd minute to seal an emphatic victory for the Malian outfit.
What the coaches had to say:
Nana Joe Adarkwa, coach of Ampem Darkoa
“We lost but I will continue to talk to them to get back on track and give our best in the last match to qualify. We did not underestimate our opponent. Our opponent came determined and deserves the victory. That’s football. The only important thing for me is to talk to them and change things.”
Moustapha Traoré, coach of AS Mandé
“My impressions are good. Mentally and psychologically, we prepared for this meeting. We suffered but, in the end, we won. We faced the Moroccan team with a lot of seriousness, there are four teams that can qualify and we want to be a part of them”.
