AFCON 2027: Queiroz ‘proud’ of Black Stars performance despite defeat to Côte d’Ivoire

Black Stars head coach Carlos Queiroz has praised his players for their performance against Côte d’Ivoire despite Ghana suffering defeat in their opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.

Ghana’s hopes of beginning the qualifiers with a victory were dashed on Thursday evening as the Black Stars fell 2-0 to the Elephants in Bouaké.

Malick Yalcouye broke the deadlock with a powerful effort from outside the penalty area before Franck Kessie converted from the spot in the second half to seal the win for the hosts.

Despite the result, Queiroz said he was proud of the way his team responded during the match, particularly in the face of adversity.

“I have to say that I am very proud of my team, very proud of my players – the way they fought, the way they played, the way they fought against adversity. I need to be quiet and polite,” he said after the game.

He also questioned a refereeing decision that he believed contributed to an imbalance in the match after Ghana had fallen behind.

“It was 1-0 down, and I don’t think Côte d’Ivoire needed the referee to come inside the game and create an unbalanced situation,” he said.

The Portuguese coach maintained that although Côte d’Ivoire enjoyed more possession at certain stages, Ghana created more opportunities and posed a greater attacking threat.

“As I said [on Wednesday], I expected a very competitive game, and it was a very competitive game. The game was very competitive, with so much quality from both sides,” he added.

“In terms of ball possession, I agree that Côte d’Ivoire had control of the game in some moments better than us, but at the end of the day, we created more opportunities, more open chances than Côte d’Ivoire.

“Unfortunately, we did not score. We had four clear opportunities to score in front of goal, but it didn’t happen. In terms of possession, Côte d’Ivoire were better than us, but in terms of attacking penetration and creating opportunities, we were better. But the result is what we all saw. Congratulations to them.”

Following the defeat, the Black Stars will regroup and prepare for their next qualifier against Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, September 29.