The Black Stars of Ghana failed to shine against the Atlas Lions of Morocco during their opening match of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations on Monday as Morocco won 1-0.
Sofiane Boufal of Angers scored the only goal of the game eight minutes from full time as the Moroccans capitalized on a loose defending by the Ghanaian back line.
Morocco were without their top three attackers for this game due to positive Covid-19 cases and injuries.
Here are the five main things we learned from this game
1.Black Stars blunt attack remains
The attack of the Black Stars is one of the weakest at this AFCON when one considers the top national teams. Ghana managed 2 shots on target in 90 minutes against three of Morocco who missed three of their leading attackers for this encounter.
2.Kamaldeen Sulemana yet to convince at the national team
The Rennais winger lacked the necessary positivity in his runs and his finals balls were not good enough for a player of his quality. He is yet to prove in the shirt of the Black Stars.
3.Morocco were the better football side
The North Africans dominated Ghana in terms of the ball possession and chances creation and they deserve their win.
4.Ghana bad starts at tournaments continues
The Black Stars is known to be bad starters at major tournaments. In the last edition in Egypt 2019 Ghana drew 2-2 against Benin before going out of the tournament at the Round of 16. Slow starters.
5.Only a miracle will see Ghana winning the competition
The first games are always important and we are not ruling out Ghana completely, we doubt the Black Stars could go on to produce the required top level performances to win the Cup.