Team Manager of the Black Stars, Ameenu Shardow, has defended the team’s performance following their failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The four-time African champions will miss the AFCON tournament for the first time in 20 years after a 1-1 draw with Angola in their Matchday five fixture last Friday.
The team concluded their qualifying campaign with a 2-1 loss to Niger on Monday at the Accra Sports Stadium, finishing last in Group F with just three points.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Shardow expressed pride in the team’s efforts.
“It’s only the results which are yet to come, but if you look at the performances of the team in most of the games, we performed better than the results that we got,” he stated on Happy FM.
He emphasized that the team often outperformed their opponents despite the results not reflecting their efforts.
“If we are going to be honest and factual about happenings, our first game against Angola, did anything suggest to you that we deserved to lose the game? When you pipe down the emotions and go deeper into the details and analyze just the games, you’ll see that we performed well. If the performance of the team in all the games that we played is anything to go by, Ghana was supposed to top the group if we are only looking at the performance unless you want to be blind to the fact.”
In response to the team’s failure, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Council is set to meet today to deliberate on the way forward.