Black Meteors coach Ibrahim Tanko has promised changes to his team after suffering a devastating 5-1 defeat to Morocco in their second game at the ongoing U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ghana, who had previously triumphed over Congo with a score of 3-2 in their opening match, needed a victory in their encounter against Morocco to secure qualification to the last four.
They were, however, poor and received a well-deserved beating, leaving them in desperate need of three points in their final match in order to advance.
With Guinea also on three points and boasting a superior goal difference, Ghana find themselves in a position where nothing short of a victory on Friday will allow them to remain in the tournament and keep their hopes alive for qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games next year.
Speaking exclusively to Onua Sports in Morocco, Tanko stated, “I know we don’t usually change a winning team, but since we lost against Morocco, it’s only fair to consider making changes for the next game. In our first game, Emmanuel Yeboah performed extraordinarily as a substitute, coming off the bench to score two goals and provide an assist, so it was only logical to start him in the second game.”
Tanko acknowledged that Ghana had a poor performance against Morocco due to insufficient rest time between their first and second matches, resulting in tired players. “We had only one day of rest while they had two,” he explained.
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“You could see from the game between Congo and Guinea how the scoreline ended up, as Congo also had just one day of rest. Now that we have had enough rest, we will travel for our final mandatory training, and there will be changes in our last game.”
Despite the heavy loss to Morocco, Coach Tanko expressed optimism about their chances in the tournament, emphasizing the upcoming last game. “We still have a chance in this tournament, and we have one more game to prepare for,” he said.
When asked about the referee’s performance in the Morocco game, Tanko offered a diplomatic response, saying, “I can’t say much about the referee’s performance because we have the VAR, which supports them. All the decisions they make are okay, so I think they are doing very well.”
Ghana’s final group game will be against Guinea at the Grand Stade de Tanger, and the Black Meteors will be determined to secure a victory and keep their tournament hopes alive.