The Black Queens are gearing up for their first match against Hong Kong in the Pink Ladies Cup and for head coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren, the past 48 hours have been about reconnecting and looking ahead.
Speaking after his second day with the squad, he expressed his satisfaction with the environment.
“Great hotel, good facilities, good pitch, perfect weather for football. So, nothing to complain about,” Björkegren said. “It’s so nice to catch up with the staff and the players.”
However, with the team gathering for the first time since their last engagement against England, the camp has also been a period of intense meetings and recalibration.
“There have been a few meetings, of course. We haven’t seen each other for a pretty long time,” he explained. The focus has been on integrating new personnel and reinforcing the team’s identity.
“It’s a lot to inform the new ones, to repeat for the ones that have been with the team for a while now. But back to some basics… now it’s just to bring them back in our Ghanaian style.”
A significant storyline for this camp is the inclusion of six new players in the squad. Bjorkegren emphasized that remaining flexible and open-minded is a crucial part of his job.
“For me, it’s always good to be open-minded, to be flexible as a coach. I mean, it’s easy to go with the same squad the whole time. That’s the easiest way to do it as a national team coach,” he admitted. “If you deserve to be in the team, you deserve to be in the team. But also, it’s my job to be open-minded and flexible to see new players.”
Regarding the newcomers, Kim clarified their purpose for this trip. “For this camp, we have six new players, actually. They’re here to prove themselves, to do their best and see if their potential can help us in the future.”
While the training so far has been “okay,” Bjorkegren was realistic about the physical toll of travel on his squad, many of whom have arrived from Mexico and the US.
“It’s maybe like a 16-hour flight. So, to perform on the same day or the day after, it’s almost impossible, I would say. But I expect a little bit more from the training today,” he stated, looking ahead to a sharper session before their upcoming fixture on Saturday.
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