The Black Meteors of Ghana drew 1-1 with the Young Syli National of Guinea last Friday, June 30, 2023, at Tangier’s Ibn-Batouta Stadium.
Ibrahim Tanko’s team is third on the table in Group A of the TotalEnergies CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, making their Guinean opponents finish behind tournament hosts Morocco, who topped Group A after edging Congo 1-0 in a simultaneous match.
The Black Meteors were eliminated from the competition after taking the lead in a thrilling match but conceding their eighth goal in three games against three other teams in the group.
Ibrahim Tanko, the coach who had previously competed in the CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, sounded revitalised during preparations for the competition but failed to secure Olympic Games qualification on his second attempt.
The Black Meteors were unable to defend Emmanuel Yeboah’s first-half goal, which came after a quick exchange of passes with Abdul Issahaku, and he finished by finding the back of the net to give Ghana the lead.
Danlad Ibrahim, who in his last three competitive games for his club and country had conceded 10 goals, seven of which were conceded in his last two games in the competition, lost concentration after an untimely header landed in the path of the onrushing Fofana.
A thunderbolt strike by the captain of the Guineans, Fofana, from a third yard to Black Meteor’s goal, which was drilled into the corner of the net, cancelled out their deficit.
At the post-match press conference, the Black Meteors coach responded to a question from a Ghanaian journalist, Clement Osei Aboagye of Oman FM, who asked Ibrahim Tanko why his team started well in the competition but ultimately failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Tanko indicated, “Yeah! I think it is a lack of concentration; even in the first game, you saw the two goals that we conceded after the 90th minute, which caused us today. This is a disadvantage of conceding goals in a tournament.”
Ibrahim Tanko emphasised the importance of concentration in the games his team has played; he pointed out how his team failed to maintain their lead in the game, conceding a goal for the second time after their game against Congo.
He hinted, “Today, we started very well; we scored the first goal in the first half, and then the same lack of concentration caused us in the second half. It’s a very bitter lesson.”
