Following Ghana's national team head coach, Otto Addo, described his team's 2-1 loss to Nigeria in the international friendly match on Friday as unlucky for the Black Stars, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Addo experienced his first loss as a coach against the Eagles, despite leading the Black Stars to two notable draws against the three-time African champions during his initial period in charge.
The Eagles achieved a 2-1 victory at the Grande Stade de Marrakech in Morocco, marking their first win over Ghana in 18 years.
Addo expressed after the match that the Black Stars did not deserve to lose to Nigeria in their friendly encounter.
“I don’t like to look too much about the positives because we lost,” Addo told Ghana.org.
“But I think we were a bit unlucky the way we conceded the first goal as the ball hit the hand, but like I said, we were unlucky.
“First half, they had the better chances but in the second half we really, really did well.
“If you want to come to the positive signs, the things we did in the second half with ten men were good.
“We controlled them; we were a little bit unlucky with the finishing. I think what killed us was their second goal because we were close to actually equalize but in all, a draw would have been deserved but like I said we lost and we have to improve and move on.”
Cyriel Dessers, who returned to the national team after two years, opened the scoring from the penalty spot for Nigeria following a strong spell for the Eagles in the first half.
However, Ghana in the second half were better and looked the most likely to net the game’s second goal despite being reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Jerome Osei Opoku.
Despite their improved performance, it was Nigeria who doubled their advantage late in the game, after substitute Ademola Lookman put the finishing touch to an excellent counter-attacking move in the 84th minute.
Ghana finally got on the scoresheet when Crystal Palace ace Jordan Ayew rolled a 95th-minute penalty past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.
But it was too late for the Black Stars to muster the equaliser as Nigeria won their first game since finishing second at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
Ghana’s Black Stars are yet to win a game in 2024, having drawn three and lost two of their five matches.
