U23 Afcon: Ghana-Cameroon ends in stalemate

The Black Meteors have drawn 1-1 with Cameroon in their 2019 U23 African Cup of Nations Group A match played at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday evening.

After a barren first half, the Cameroonians took the lead in the 59th minute after Frank Evina’s freekick curled in a free kick from the edge of the box.

Ghana came close to finding the equalizer after Kwabena Owusu received a pass inside the box and curled it inches wide.

Captain Yaw Yeboah came off in the second half and his replacement Evans Osei Owusu didn’t waste time in making an impact in the game.

Ghana finally managed to break through the Cameroonian defense after Habib Mohammed forced a shot in to draw Ghana level with just 3 minutes left in the game.

The game ended with both sides unable to find the winner and coach Ibrahim Tanko admits it was a fair result for both sides.

“It is a fair result for both teams. Now we will focus and prepare for our next match against Egypt”, the Black Meteors head coach stated.

Coach Tanko added that after going a goal down in the second half he had to make some tactical changes to avoid defeat in the opening match.

“We were a goal down and realized we needed energy in our midfield so I had to make those changes.

“The change of play in the second half is also part of our game plan. If you watch our previous games we always score in the second half and today we managed to do that again”, he explained.

Ghana now needs a win against Egypt to boost chances of making it to the semi finals and the head of the technical team believes the team can win on Monday despite the tough sides in the group.

“All the eight teams are strong in this competition are strong and our group in particular has strong and powerful in African football countries but we will We will Try our best to win against Egypt and stay in the tournament”, he emphasized.