Ghanaian footballer and Charlton Athletic midfielder, Freda Ayisi, has earned a spot in the Black Queens squad for the critical penultimate round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifier against Zambia. The 29-year-old player will be joining her teammates in preparations leading up to the anticipated clash scheduled for Friday, February 23, at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Freda Ayisi’s football journey started at Arsenal, where she made an impact in her debut season by scoring against FC Kairat in the Champions League. Notably, she was part of the Arsenal squad that clinched the 2014 Women’s FA Cup. With experience playing for Birmingham Women’s FC and Leicester City, Ayisi eventually joined Charlton Athletic in 2022, emerging as a significant contributor to their pursuit of promotion to the English Women’s Premier League.

In a meeting with Black Queens coach Nora Häuptle in May 2023, Ayisi’s talent caught attention after a standout performance for Charlton, earning her a call-up to the Ghanaian national team. The squad, consisting of 23 players, includes notable names like Comfort Yeboah, Kerri McCarthy, Yakubu Firdaus, and Maafia Nyame.

Interestingly, goalkeeper Cynthia Findiib Konlan, a standout performer in the Olympic Games qualifiers and instrumental in securing qualification for the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, is notably absent from the squad.

The Black Queens commenced the 2024 Olympic qualifiers impressively, recording a 7-0 aggregate victory over Guinea in July and a 5-0 aggregate triumph against Benin in October 2023. The players are set to begin their camp in Accra on Sunday, February 18, 2024.