The Ghana Football Association’s Communications Director, Henry Asante Twum, has expressed the association’s confidence in the Black Stars’ chances at the recently concluded 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), despite their early exit.
The Black Stars were hoping to secure their fifth title at the 34th edition of the AFCON in Ivory Coast but were eliminated during the group phase.
Ghana began their campaign with a 2-1 loss to Cape Verde before drawing 2-2 with Egypt and Mozambique. This left the team in 3rd place in Group B with only two points out of a possible nine.
Responding to the team’s disappointing performance, Mr. Asante-Twum stated that they had high hopes for the team due to their thorough preparations leading up to the tournament.
He explained, “When we were going to this tournament, we were upbeat about our chances because we believed that the team had prepared well. We knew we had put in place a good technical team and we knew the players selected for the tournament were good enough. We had compared our side to other teams and we knew we had a good chance to progress in the tournament.”
Mr. Asante-Twum also noted that the players themselves believed it was possible to progress, despite the stumbling start to their campaign.
Reflecting on the matches against Egypt and Mozambique, Asante-Twum pointed out various factors that affected the team’s performance and ultimately led to their failure to advance.
The poor performance of the Black Stars has resulted in the dismissal of coach Chris Hughton and his technical team. Currently, a five-member committee is working to recommend a new coach to the Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
Reports in the media suggest that Otto Addo is the frontrunner for the vacant coaching position.
