Black Stars coach Otto Addo has expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the match against Niger.
The Black Stars were held to a 1-1 draw by Niger in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers on Monday in Berkane, Morocco.
Speaking at his post-match press conference coach Otoo Addo slammed his team for conceding a cheap goal after training for such situations.
"I am not satisfied at all. I am really disappointed to be honest. We talked and we trained on set pieces, we talked about situations which could happen and the way they defended in the last 10 minutes was really, really bad. I think in general we had the game under control. We allowed sometimes some counter situations where we don't close the gaps really well and then we got the lead. I think from that point things were easier," he said.
We had a quite cheap goal against Angola and now again, I am just really, really disappointed and we have to be on our toes to defend these situations better. I don't know what to say more because I am really, really disappointed. We talked too much, we trained exactly in this kind of situation also and I am really disappointed to see the team concede a goal like this."
Addo highlighted Ghana's struggles in capitalizing on chances, particularly in the second half.
"Also in the second half we changed some positions and the buildup and also some restrictions to seize moments for our wingers. We had a different set up in the midfield, so it was good. In the second half we controlled them; we created a lot of chances which we didn't use. At the end, these kind of games are like this. There are no cheap teams, every team can play and Niger also did well, especially in their counter attacks. But I am very, very disappointed with the way we allowed our goals."
Ghana's next fixture against Sudan could determine their AFCON qualification fate, and Addo is clear on the task ahead: "We need to grow from this. This is more than a wake-up call."
The Black Stars will face Sudan in a must-win encounter as they aim to secure their spot in the prestigious tournament.