Ghana’s Black Starlets kicked off their WAFU B U-17 Cup of Nations journey with a resounding 5-1 victory against Cote d’Ivoire, igniting cheers from fans.
However, head coach Laryea Kingston expressed disappointment, emphasizing the team’s need for improvement despite the impressive scoreline.
Kingston, while acknowledging the strength of their opponents, highlighted the team’s failure to display dominance on the field, attributing some of it to nerves, especially playing on home soil for the first time in such a competition.
“Throughout this preparation, every team that we’ve played, we’ve dominated play. [In] our last tournament in Russia, we lost against Russia. First 15 minutes we were down 3-0 but we dominated play. Against Serbia, we dominated play, against Kazakhstan, we dominated play. [In] our friendly game against Niger, we dominated play as well,” said Kingston after the game.
Looking ahead to their next match against Benin, Kingston stressed the importance of regaining their dominant form and focusing on better performances. Despite the initial setback, he remains determined to lead his team to success in the upcoming matches.
“Today’s game, different opponent. Like I said, thumbs up to the Ivorians; they are a very good side. Of course, most of my boys, [this is the] first time playing such a competition on home soil. I felt they were a little bit jittery. So with that, we had to manage and then try to take something out and try to do our best.”
“Sometimes, we tried to play one, two, three passes but for me, as a technical person, I’m not satisfied with the way we played”
“We didn’t dominate play today. We just got the results but in up-and-coming games, this is our style and you will see it in the way we play.”
