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Yeni Malatyaspor’s man reflects on Tuesday’s away loss at Omdurman en route to Cameroon 2022
Ghana’s midfielder Afriyie Acquah is of the opinion that Tuesday’s loss to Sudan in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers was not the result of Black Stars’ complacency.
The West Africans suffered their first group loss in Week 4’s match at Al Hilal Stadium, Omdurman, as Mohamed Abdelrahman scored a goal in injury time in the second half to win it all for the hosts.
Five days earlier, the two teams met on matchday four at Cape Coast, where a double by Andre Ayew secured Ghana’s 2-0 win.
“As we all know, in the first leg we got a 2-0 win. So we were determined to go to the reverse game and win, but unfortunately, it couldn’t materialize,” said the Yeni Malatyaspor Acquah midfielder, as reported by Citisportsonline. .
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“We lost in the last minute but we still have a chance to qualify, we have two other games to play that I think we can win.
“Anyone who has seen the first game can testify that the Sudanese have a good team, now football has changed, everyone knows how to play, so no team can be underestimated.
“We never underestimated them, it was a game and in all games anything can happen. Defeat doesn’t mean we underestimated them, it just happened. We will correct our mistakes and move on. “
Despite the loss, Ghana remains in pole position to qualify for the finals in Cameroon, as they top the table in Group C, with two more rounds of matches to play.
A win or draw in Sudan would have secured the Black Stars a qualifying ticket with two games to spare.
“In general, I think we did well. We lost to a team that was hungrier than us, “Ghana coach CK Akonnor said after the match.
“If I look at the way we play in Ghana and the way we play here, I think there is a little improvement in terms of containing the pressure and all that.
“The players fought in uncomfortable conditions like the weather and the Sudanese tried to frustrate us before the game and I appreciate the effort of the players.
“The Sudanese players were hungrier than us. We will learn from the mistakes we made today and we will do well against South Africa and Sao Tome and qualify.
“I firmly believe and can assure Ghanaians that we will do everything we can to qualify.”
Ghana is chasing its 23rd appearance at Afcon and the playoffs begin in March.
