Former Ghana international, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, has shared his thoughts on the calamitous performance of the Black Stars at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
The Black Stars faced a challenging AFCON tournament, failing to secure a spot in the knockout stage after a disappointing performance against Mozambique in the final group game. This marks Ghana’s second consecutive early exit from the continental showpiece.
Badu pointed out several deficiencies in the team’s performance, emphasizing the lack of concentration, communication, character, and confidence.
“The team lacked concentration, communication, character and confidence. Normally, when you have confidence, character and you are able to concentrate and communicate well, it helps as a team”
He highlighted the importance of these elements for a team’s success and noted the contrast with other teams, like Mauritania, whose character and determination were evident in their play.
“A good communication can help save a point. Anyone who watched Mauritania’s game against Algeria can detect that the character of the Mauritanians was what Ghana were lacking because you could see they are fighting, running and doing everything to get the points. The team lacked confidence because after taking the lead against Mozambique things turned upside down; you could see there was nothing at stake for the players,” he remarked.
The Black Stars are set to return to action in March for the FIFA international break, with a friendly against World Champions Argentina in Beijing, China.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Football Association announced the sacking of former Premier League manager Chris Hughton and the entire technical team following the Black Stars’ poor AFCON 2023 performance in Ivory Coast.
