Ghana’s U-23 side the Black Meteors are on the verge of being dumped out of the All African Games after succumbing to an uninspiring 2-0 defeat to rivals Nigeria.
A drab first half ended goalless with both teams struggling to dominate the game and create goal scoring opportunities.
Nigeria came close on the stroke of halftime but were denied by the goalkeeping heroics of Richard Ofori.
Samson Siasia’s Dream-team came out of the dressing room the the more determined of the two teams and were finally rewarded for their efforts after a missed interception from right back Emmanuel Nti Mensah allowed Ajayi Oluwafemi to tap in from close range for the first goal.
Ghana’s midfield failed to provide the grit needed to shield the defense and the creativity needed to score goals and were put under intense pressure which culminated in a series of errors.
Muntari Tamimu and Kennedy Ashia were introduced in the latter part of the second half in an attempt to find a spark to drive the team forward by Malik Jabir.
Ghana’s best chance in the game fell to Asante Kotoko’s Dauda Mohammed after a badly timed back pass strayed into his path but his indecisiveness ensured that he was quickly closed down before he could test the Nigerian goalkeeper.
Kingsley Sokari put the game beyond the reach of Ghana after he latched unto a floated pass to lob over the onrushing Richard Ofori in the 84th minute of the game.
Ghana have picked up only a point in Group B following the goalless draw with Senegal in the opening match and will require Nigeria to beat the Senegalese by more than 2 unanswered goals if they are to progress to the next round of the competition.
Ghana won Gold in the last edition of the competition held in Mozambique.
By:Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana