Like a Swiss chocolatier refining the finest cocoa beans from Ghana, Nora Hauptle is on a mission to nurture the country’s raw female talent and lead the Black Queens to the pinnacle of African football.
“I always tell them I’m closing the circle because probably the cocoa was exported to Switzerland, we add the milk and now I’m bringing back the chocolate,” the Swiss coach told BBC Sport Africa.
Ghana were once seen as Nigeria’s main contenders for dominance on the continent, qualifying for three consecutive Women’s World Cups between 1999 and 2007, but then endured a catastrophic fall from grace.
The Black Queens hosted the 2018 African Women’s Cup of Nations but crashed out in the group stage and the team subsequently failed to even qualify for the 2022 edition in Morocco.
They had only played one match in the whole of 2022 when Hauptl joined late that year, initially as a technical adviser for the under-20 team at the U20 Women’s World Cup.
He then took charge of the senior team in January 2023 and turned the team’s fortunes around as the Black Queens won Hauptle’s first nine games without conceding – scoring 31 goals in the process.
Ironically, her biggest achievement to date came with her first defeat, which came in the final round of qualifying for the 2024 Women’s Cup of Nations.
Having beaten Namibia 3-1 in the first leg in Accra, the Black Queens held on for nervous defeat with 1-0 in the return game – still enough to get them back into the tournament for the first time in six years, which brought Hauptle to tears.
“I’m human too you know,” he reflected on the overall win.
“It was a lot of pressure and you know you have to deliver. Of course it was a big release.”
Overseeing Ghana’s return to the finals will be Hauptle’s next challenge – but the 40-year-old has plenty of experience to draw upon, having taken a different route since hanging up her boots.