Black Stars defender Derrick Luckassen has insisted that basic qualification is merely the baseline for Ghana’s ambitions, urging his teammates to immediately shift their focus toward launching a deep knockout-stage run.
Despite a narrow 2-1 defeat to Croatia at the Philadelphia Stadium, Ghana safely secured progression to the World Cup Round of 32 with four points in Group L. Luckassen, who scored the Black Stars’ solitary goal with a sharp 73rd-minute equalizer, was quick to look at the bigger picture during his post-match media duties.
The center-back made it clear that while advancing past the group stage is a major achievement, the squad is hungry for much more.
“We are through to the next round and that is the most important thing. We hope we can go further because that is what we want. We will give our best to go further.”
Ghana’s progression ends a frustrating seven-year major tournament knockout drought dating back to AFCON 2019. With a sudden-death Round of 32 fixture looming, Luckassen’s declaration sets an ambitious tone for Carlos Queiroz’s side as they look to replicate the historic knockout runs of 2006 and 2010.
