Dinkinesh “Lucy” of Ethiopia to face Banyana Banyana of South Africa
The Ethiopian national women football team aka Dinkinesh "Lucy" (Photo: Courtesy of Ermias Berhane)
Addis Ababa – The Ethiopian national women football team, aka “Dinkinesh†(Lucy), who eliminated the Black Queens of Ghana this past week, have been drawn to play the South African Banyana, while the Nigerian Falcons will take on Equatorial Guinea in the final 2012 CAF Olympic Games qualifiers.
The winners will qualify for the Olympic Games in London next year.
Dinkinesh reached the semi-final after eliminating the highly rated Black Queens of Ghana 1-0 in Addis Ababa and losing 2-1 in Accra on Saturday to force the tie into a 2-2 aggregate and thus qualified on the away goal rule.
The Nigerian Super Falcons demolished Namibia 9-0 (7-0 & 2-0) on aggregate score and the ladies of Equatorial Guinea defeated Cameroun 2-0 on aggregate (0-0 & 2-0).
The first leg matches will take place the week of August 26-28, 2011 and with the return matches two weeks later.
Dinkinesh will play the first leg match in South Africa, with the return taking place in Addis Ababa.
The format has been slightly changed for this final phase of the qualifiers. Initially FIFA had planned that the last four team’s standings would be paired in a group where they would play in a home and away mini-league points system where the top two at the end of the program would qualify for London.
But Nomsa Mahlangu, Chairperson of South African Women Football and member of the SAFA National Executive Committee revealed from Tunis on Monday that due to a congested continental fixture, the format has been changed following discussions with both CAF and FIFA.
“A decision was taken to change the format due to the fact that instead of grouping the last four teams,†explained Mahlangu. “It was decided that instead of playing a further six games with this format, it would be better to play at least two matches and let the winner qualify.
“This was because teams are engaged in qualifications for both the London Olympics and Maputo All Africa Games. The reduction of the games will also help cut the traveling and hosting costs and everybody accepted this new format,†she added.
Quarter-Finals:
Ethiopia – Ghana 1-0 / 1-2 (2-2) on away rule
Nigeria – Namibia 7-0 / 2-0 (9-0)
S. Africa – Tunisia 1-0 / 0-1 (1-1) South Africa 6-5 on penalty kicks
Cameroun – Equatorial Guinea 0-0 / 0-2 (0-2)
