Annor Walker- Ghana's home-based national team head coach, after the victory over Nigeria, has admitted they were given a very tough opposition especially in the first half.
The Black Galaxies edged out sworn rivals Nigeria by 2-0 at the Cape Coast Stadium over the weekend in the first leg of the ongoing 2023 Africa Nations Championship qualifiers.
The game was really a tedious one with Ghana been ghosted in the entire first phase but responded really well afterwards in the second department.
Two second half goals from Hearts of Oak duo Daniel Afriyie Barnieh and youngster Suraj Seidu powered the the Galaxies to this sweet win are gradually ending the long standing hoodoo of not qualifying for the CHAN, having missed the last three editions.
In a post-match presser, the Samartex FC coach lauded the performance of his players but confessed it was really a difficult encounter. He said;
"In actual fact, it was a difficult game especially in the first half because the Nigerians didn’t allow us to play the way we wanted. So, after the first half, we talked to the players to change their mentality and play aggressively like how Nigeria did in the first half. After the break, I think the players changed their mindset and that paid off for us."
“In all, I will say it was a difficult game but all the same God has seen us through. We have struggled in the first half in our last two games (Qatar and Nigeria) but against Benin, it wasn’t like that because we had the chance to score two early goals in the first half. Against Qatar, we struggled a bit until the second half because they scored two goals which disrupted us. Nigeria too made it difficult for us in the first half and it is good that we have noticed our shortfalls, going forward we will change the narrative.” He added.
Ghana will travel to Abuja for the return leg on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at the Moshood Abiola Stadium.
By: Iddriss Abdul Rahim
