Ghana U-17 head coach Karim Zito has refused to blame his players after they were beaten by Nigeria in the final of WAFU Zone B Championship and missing out on qualification to the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
The Black Starlets lost 3-1 on penalties to their West African neighbours after the game had ended 1-1 in regulation time.
Black Starlets looked primed to win the qualifying tournament in Niger when they took the lead in the 54thminute.
But Nigeria equalized within 10 minutes of Ghana taking the lead to ultimately take the game into a penalty shootout which Ghana subsequently lost.
“No. My boys weren’t tactically indisciplined,” a clearly disappointed Zito said after the game.
“They played, we played. You make a mistake and they score you.”
“We made a mistake and then they scored. Without mistakes, goals will never be scored.”
Ghana will not be involved at the 2019 Africa Junior Championships by virtue of this defeat.
This also means the Black Starlets will not be at the World Cup.
