Ghana coach Maxwell Konadu has praised his players for meeting expectations after a 2-0 win over Guinea on Thursday, September 14 in their opening Group A clash of the 2017 WAFU Cup of Nations.
The former Asante Kotoko trainer made three changes to his starting line-up which laboured to eliminate Gambia 1-0 last Saturday in their first game of the tournament and it paid dividends.
One of them, striker Stephen Sarfo, who was chosen ahead of Kwame Kizito, directed home a cross from the range to open the scoring on 48 minutes.
Kizito also got on the scoresheet with a close range header in the 77th minute for the assurance which bagged the three points which sees them top of Group A following Nigeria and Mali’s 0-0 draw earlier in the day.
The Black Stars enjoyed massive support from the crowd and Konadu was happy to see his charges cope with the pressure.
“The tension, the pressure, the atmosphere was quite different in the first game than this one,” said Konadu after the match.
“This time around the boys were relaxed and we were able to calm them down enough before the kick-off and I think that also contributed to the performance this afternoon.
“Yes the fans came, the pressure was there, but it was different. We know we are in the group stage now. Initially I said that playing in the group stage is different from playing in the knockout stage.”
Ghana will next face Mali in Group A at the Cape Coast sports Stadium on Saturday, September 16.
Wafucup.com
