AFCON 2021: A Look At Ghana's Performance Against Morocco -

Ghana’s Captain Dede Ayew surprised at the defeat

The Black Stars Of Ghana played their first round of match at the 2021 AFCON competition in Cameroon on Monday January 10. After losing to the reigning African and Arab Champions Algeria in a pre-competition friendly in Qatar, many fanatics of the Black Stars were expecting a great game against Morocco in Cameroon.

Be that as it may, it was a similar story. Ghana lost to the Moroccans by a lone goal in the dying minutes of the second half. Ghana began on a very good note, with everything turning out ideal for them. The Black Stars ruled the game in the first 45 minutes, in spite of the fact that it ended goalless.

The team has for quite a while had issues of having a goal poacher or a prolific striker in front of the team, after Asamoah Gyan ‘resigned’ from the national team. Asamoah Gyan is Ghana’s unsurpassed top scorer for the country, forpassing Osei Kofi, Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah, who were equally extraordinary strikers for the Black Stars.

In the AFCON match against Morocco, the Black Stars of Ghana were marvelous, but came up short of the men in front to bang in the goals. Both the skipper Dede Ayew, who was not well but had to play to boost the morale of the young players, and Jordan Ayew had it somewhat tough in front, doing everything they can to score. But all to no avail.

We also didn’t see the typical long strikes from Arsenal Midfielder Thomas Party. The Moroccans rather continued to push forward in the last 45 minutes, ensuring they had a goal. Ghana then again, created a ton of chances, but failed to put the ball at the back of the net.

Where are our strikers? The fans continued to question during the game. The team has around 90% of new players who have never played in such an enormous competitive tournament before.

Therefore, they can perhaps be pardoned. Generally, they played well, with players like Sulemana, who was one of the young capable players on the field, Paintsil, Yiadom, Djiku, Baba Iddrisu, and the rest demonstrating that, they can make it happen.

In all actuality, Ghana needs to work on the striking department of the team, if by some stroke of good luck, they want to break the 40 years jinx of winning the cup. In the next game, a ton of redresses should be done.