Dream of West Africa celebrating the CAF Women's Champions League was dashed on Wednesday as Bayelsa Queens bowed to a 1-0 1-0 defeat against Morocco's AS FAR Women in the semifinal of the competition in Rabat.
The Nigerian and WAFU-B champions had overcame their losing start to the competition against Mamelodi Sundowns with consecutive wins over TP Mazembe 2-0 and Wadi Degla 3-0 respectively before suffering a setback in their quest for the CAF Women's Champions League glory against the hosts club at Stade Moulay Hassan.
Ibtissam Jraidi's first-half goal was all the Moroccan champions needed to silence their Nigerian counterparts and book a place in the final for the first time in their history at the expense of the West African club.
Following the disappointment, Bayelsa Queens will now play Tanzania's Simba Queens in Saturday's third-place match and head coach Domo Okara is taking positives from their second unfortuate result in Morocco.
"It was a good game, I must confess that the Morrocan team is very good. We gave our best and I am disappointed we didn't win, but life goes on," Okara told CAFOnline.com.
"We started a little bit late, the Morrocan team dominated the first 20-25 minutes, I have watched all their games, and I thought we will be able to do more than this, but we must give it to them, they are a very good side, and they are playing home.
"My girls are disappointed so am I, but it is a game of football, it is past and there is nothing we can do about it. I am happy we played well, though we lost."
When asked about lessons learned from the defeat and the next target, Okara continued: "This kind of competition is very very good for our girls, not only the country but also the club sides, they started very high, I know it is very difficult, but I am happy that Africa has come of age in women's football.
"It is very good that we African teams compete amongst ourselves to improve, and as a coach, I have learnt a lot. I will be coming back to Morroco. My girls tried their best but it wasn't good enough, but we will come back and fight better next time. We will go out and play, we have lost, there is nothing we can do.
"Our goal is to clinch the title, to become the champion of Africa, but we didn't get it, we lost to a good side and we will see what we can do to get the third position. We'd see how we will recuperate and come back and play the third place."
