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Ghana captain Mukarama Abdulai scored a hat-trick as her team overwhelmed hosts Uruguay in front of a partisan 9500 spectators at the Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo.
Ghanian Head coach Evans Adotey is looking positively to better their third-place finish at the 2012 World cup in Azerbaijan, and is pleased with the way the girls have started the tournament.
Group A: Ghana 5 - 0 Uruguay (GHA: Fuseina Mumuni 20', Mukarama Abdulai 25', 78', 90'+1, Millot Pokuaa 66')
The Ghanaians dominated the game, keeping 59% of the ball possession. Uruguay managed three of their shots striking the target of their total eight attempts.
Animah Grace fancied a golden opportunity to put Ghana ahead in the 6th minute. But her final shot went wide of the target.
Ghana broke the deadlock in the 20th minute when Mukarama Abdulai found Fuseina Mumuni unmarked in the penalty area. A quick swivel and finish from the No. 10 made it 1-0 for the Black Maidens.
The second goal arrived five minutes later through an excellent cross delivered by Animah Grace. Mukarama Abdulai pounced on the ball before Jennifer Sosa with a delightful header to make it 2-0.
In the second half, Fuseina Mumuni was quick to react to a looping ball played into the penalty area. She outran the defenders and struck the ball towards the left corner of the goal only to be pronounced offside by the linesman. Mumuni and Jennifer Sosa were substituted after they had collided with each other.
Las Celestes would have been down by a significant margin if Caraballo had not denied Abdulai‘s effort from close range and Juliana Viera thwarting another effort from the Ghanian captain with a goal-line save.
The African team showed tremendous pace on the ball when Millot Pokuaa outran Micaela Domínguez down the left flank before launching a crisp right footed shot towards the near post for their third goal. Ghanian players Mukarama Abdulai and Millot Pokuaa totalled the Mexican referee Lucila Venegas during the celebration with Venegas falling flat on the floor.
Mukarama Abdulai picked up her second goal from close range after Suzzy Teye's pass from the right flank was deflected towards her path by Millot Pokuaa in the 78th minute.
Mukarama Abdulai scored her third when she gathered the ball inside the penalty box, swivelled around with a toe-poked finish towards the left top corner to make it 5-0 at injury time.
Ghana ended the game with ten of their 24 attempts striking the target with one hitting the woodwork. Ghanian captain Mukarama Abdulai deservedly won the Player of the match.
