2023 AFCON: I am not under pressure – Chris Hughton

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Black Stars head coach, Chris Hughton says he is not under any pressure to perform better at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

“I don’t think there is any pressure. The only pressure is that as a proud football nation that has qualified for this tournament, we want to do our best,” he noted.

In the 2021 AFCON hosted in Cameroon, Ghana failed to make it to the next round of the tournament after exiting with just a point after three games making it the worst performance ever under Milovan Rajevac.

The Black Stars suffered a defeat against Morocco, picked a point against Gabon before shockingly losing to Comoros in the final group game.

However, the Black Stars discovered their group opponents of the AFCON to be hosted in Ivory Coast next year on Thursday night.

Ghana has been paired with Egypt, Cape Verde and Mozambique in Group B.

In an interview with the GFA media, Hughton said he is not burdened to do better than his predecessor.

“We know it was disappointing in the last campaign but that was in the past. All we can do is look forward to prepare ourselves the best way we can, making sure that we put ourselves in the best possible position to come out of the group.

Once you come out of the group, you have no idea which teams you will face at this particular moment. But the pressure is always there; we want to win football matches and the only way you can achieve something at this competition is by winning matches,” he added.

Chris Hughton will hope to lead the team to win the ultimate to end the country’s 41-year Africa Cup of Nations trophy drought.

The 34th edition of the tournament, which Ivory Coast will host for the second time after the previous time was in 1984, will take place between January 13 and February 11, 2024.

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