Chris Hughton has revealed that he charged his players to be more committed to the task ahead after Ghana’s defeat in their opening clash of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) resulting in an improved performance against Egypt.
The Black Stars after losing 2-1 to Cape Verde rubbed shoulders with the seven-time Africa Champions on Thursday giving up the lead twice to the record holders who through Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed cancelled Mohammed Kudus’ two brilliant goals to settle for a thrilling 2-2 draw.
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Ghana conceded the goals through careless errors and failed to clinch their first win of the tournament.
However, many have described the performance as a better one compared to the previous.
Speaking after the game, Hughton admitted that, Ghana had a better chance of winning the game but refused to fault his players. According to him, he required his players to work harder to stand a chance of attaining their desired result.
“Of course, it’s very frustrating because I thought we deserved to win the game,” Hughton stated.
“What I asked after the first performance against Cape Verde from the players was a better performance. More commitment and more running to give ourselves a better chance of putting in a performance to win this game. I don’t think I can fault the players, their attitude and the way they applied themselves.”
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The former Newcastle United manager further reiterated the team’s disappointment stating, “At the moment the dressing room is a very disappointed dressing room because I think it was a really good opportunity for us to get three points.”
Looking ahead, Ghana face the daunting task of beating Mozambique in their last group game at all costs to stand a chance of proceeding to the round of 16 having missed out in the last edition.