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Ghanaian football coach Nana Kwaku Agyemang has disclosed his discontentment with the performance of the Black Stars in their game against the Atlas Lions of Morocco in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Black Stars were handed a 1-0 defeat by Morocco courtesy an 83rd minute strike by Sofiane Boufal on Monday, January 10, 2021.
Taking his turn on GhanaWeb’s Sports Check program, Nana Agyemang said that he struggled to realize Ghana’s playing style on the day.
He also could not put a finger to the plan by the coach Milovan Rajevac to carve the openings in the Moroccan half and score.
He noted among other things an insipid and uninspiring display from the Black Stars players against a Moroccan team which was ravaged by injuries.
“I didn’t see any pattern. I didn’t see any clear style of how we intended to penetrate the opposition. We blew a huge number of set-pieces away. It was poor in that respect. We held on to the ball a bit too much. We should have knocked the ball around faster. We lacked ideas going forward. The players looked a bit tired. They looked tired. Whatever the game plan was, I didn’t see it,” he told GhanaWeb’s Perez Erzoah-Kwaw.
Nana Agyemang who once served as a member of the technical team of Feyenoord Academy was also concerned with the failure of the Black Stars to make something out of the free kicks that came their way.
He explained that set-pieces are crucial source of goals and that the Black Stars should maximized those opportunities.
“Set-pieces are always key. When I’m coaching, I tell my players that even throw-ins are set-pieces. A goal kick is a set-piece. Every time, the game is restarted by you having possession, that’s a set-piece. I don’t know if they practise it enough or at all. From what I saw I question if they did that at all,”.
The Black Stars will have a chance to right the wrongs of the first game when they come up against the Gabon in the second group match of the tournament.
The game will be live on GhanaWeb from 6:00pm.
GhanaWeb’s coverage of the AFCON is sponsored by Kenpong Football Academy and Ice Gold