Ghana coach Joe Nana Adarkwa heaped praise on exceptional talent Jessica Appiah whose winning penalty sent his side through to the quarter-final at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

The Black Maidens had to dig deep for this qualification after having a player sent off against Argentina.

Appiah gave Ghana an early lead after latching on Cynthia Obinsrewuo’s squared pass inside the box.

Argentina equalized at the death of regulation time when Mercedes Diz met a looping free-kick with a terrific header which dropped in over Belinda Maku Aklie.

During penalty shootout, the South Americans missed their fifth kick and Appiah stepped up to convert hers for a 5-4 victory.

"I'm delighted, as usual," Adarkwa said. "You can see in the celebrations that I lost my voice, but I'm OK.

"In our match that brought us into this tournament against Senegal, she scored the final penalty and today too. I'm happy for the girl. Jessica is a world-class player – she's fantastic.

"We're a technical team but our players did well because if you are not tactical when it's 10 against 11, you lose the game. But thank God the players played according to our instructions and we drew. I'm happy for my girls because if you instruct them, they'll get there."