Ghana U20 head coach Maxwell Konadu has admitted his tactical approach did not produce the desired result after the Black Satellites began their WAFU B U20 Championship campaign with a 4-2 defeat to defending champions Nigeria. Ghana suffered the setback in their opening Group B fixture at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, on Monday, with Konadu acknowledging that defensive mistakes played a major role in the outcome. The Black Satellites attempted to take the game to Nigeria with a high-pressing approach, but the strategy was undermined by costly errors that allowed the defending champions to take control of the match.
“It was quite a difficult game,” Konadu said in the post-match interview. “We planned to start with a high press to see how our opponents would react. In the process, we gave away some cheap goals that could have been avoided.” “Having said that, we can’t take anything away from our colleagues.
They did well and played better than us, and we have accepted that. The only thing now is to bounce back and try to win the games ahead of us.” “We need to quickly fix that problem. Going into the next game, we’ll be working on our defence and making sure we avoid the mistakes we made today.” The Black Satellites will now turn their attention to their next Group B match against Burkina Faso on Thursday, July 30, before wrapping up their group campaign against Togo on Sunday, August 2.
The team has already secured automatic qualification for the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations as hosts.
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