Despite being dropped from the 25-“man” list named by head
coach Yusif Basigi due to injury, Black Queens captain Florence Okoe believes she is still an integral member of
the team.
The 29-year-old who is a member of the Ghana Police service
was excluded from the 25 players invited to begin preparation ahead of the 2014
African Women’s Championships in Namibia.
The Police ladies midfielder who was expected to undergo a
surgery last week have been battling with a knee injury since coming off the
bench in the Black Queens qualifier against Burkina Faso at the Accra Sports
Stadium.
Many have attributed the former TeBe Berlin and Madonna
Ladies midfielder’s injury to old-age after she underwent a surgery few months
ago.
But the experience midfielder who is nicknamed “Lampard” by
her peers remains optimistic and believes she is still an essential member of
the Black Queens team.
“If you have an injury there are a lot of things that goes
through your mind. I can see that new names are coming into the team and old
names are leaving the system”
“Is a matter of time. Am a woman and I cannot play football
all my life. So when my time is up I think I will pave way”.
“But I still have the strength to play because I remember
the last match we played at the Accra Sports Stadium against Burkina Faso. Although
I started from the bench because of injury, I really made an impact when I came
on, and even the President of the FA told me after the game “yes this is the
type of game Ghanaians want to see”. All is about what Florence Okoe is doing.
So I still believe I can play”.
The hard-working midfielder who is famed by her swift and
constructive distribution of passes has represented Ghana at four African
Women’s Championships competitions. Thus in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.
She also has
two World Cup tournaments two her credit. 2003 and 2007 respectively.
Okoe has been described as an assiduous leader ever since
taking the mantle from former Black Queens captain Grace Adwoa Bayor.
By
Frank Darkwah
Follow Frank Darkwah on twitter.@Blaqqkoffi
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