Mustapha Ussif
Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif paid a visit to the Black Princesses team ahead of their departure to Colombia for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Ghana is making a seventh consecutive appearance on the global stage, but they are yet to make it out of the group stage at the World Cup.
The minister, accompanied by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kurt Okraku, charged the team to go out there and make the country proud.
“On behalf of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, I am here to bid you a hopeful farewell as you embark on this journey to represent the entire country. The GFA President has spoken. I’m here to just also give you an assurance that the entire government is behind you,” he told the team.
“Everything that we are supposed to put in place, you can testify that we have done that beautifully. We took action when we had difficulties during your camp in Cape Coast to ensure that your stay there became very successful,” he stressed.
He continued, “So, as you leave the shores of our country, be rest assured that we are with you. And you are not only going there to represent yourself, neither your family nor your community alone, you are representing the entire country. So, this should be at the back of your minds.
“When you step on the pitch, you should look back and know that you are representing over 30 million Ghanaians. For every decision that you are going to take on the pitch, be aware that it is people’s emotions and passions that you are representing, so you do your best to represent us well.”
“We’ll make sure we put everything in place in terms of logistics and finance. Just do your best to raise the flag of our dear country very high in Colombia. And like the President said, I’ll be the happiest minister to come to Kotoka International Airport to receive you with the trophy. Go all out and make yourselves proud. Enjoy yourselves and enjoy the game and bring glory back home,” he concluded.
