CHAN 2022: Coach Annor Walker defend his boys despite defeat to debutants Madagascar
Two-time TotalEnergies African Nations Championship finalists, Ghana succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to Madagascar, who are making their first ever appearance at the CHAN.
At the Chahid Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine on Sunday, the Black Galaxies suffered their first defeat from their opening Group C fixture following each half goals. Ghana due to poor defensive system conceded the opener in the first 10 minutes and failed to come back in the first session of the game despite playing a midfield of four.
Black Galaxies coach Annor Walker preferred a typical 4-4-2 system against debutants Madagascar.
In the 58th minute, Ghana conceded the second following a poor back pass from Karela United’s Augustine Randolph. Olivier Randriatsiferana made it 2-0 before the hour mark after Solomampionona Razafindranaivo had opened the scores.
Annor Walker speaking after his side’s shocking defeat at the hands of Madagascar, believes that losing the first match of a tournament is not unprecedented in football though his boys disappointed him.
“I think my boys disappointed me in the first half and I take it as one of those things that happen in football. We were well prepared for this game, but minor mistakes cost us the game,” said a dejected Walker to Cafonline.
“Such things happen in football. It happens in competitions where big teams lose their opening games. We may have lost but we are certainly not out of the competition yet.
Asked on where he thinks his side would need to improve, the coach said he still needs to analyse the game with his technical team to properly assess where things may have gone wrong in their shocking defeat.
“Madagascar played well in the first half, but we also did not have our usual rhythm. Apart from that, I did not see anything different from them. They were possessing the ball quite well, but I believe we could have done better ourselves and these are the things we will need to look at and remedy ahead of our next match on Thursday. I still need to analyse the game and make a proper judgement on where exactly we went wrong and how it needs to be fixed,” concluded the coach.
Black Galaxies take on Sudan on Thursday at the same venue, where they will be hoping to redeem themselves and get a result to remain in contention for a knock-out place.
Story Kolog Bonaventure
