AFCON: Black Stars must avoid mistakes against Mozambique – Denis Odoi

Black Stars defender Denis Odoi says the team is working on avoiding the defensive lapses that denied Ghana maximum points in previous games as they face off with Mozambique in the final Group B clash of the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast.

Speaking to the media ahead of the game, he was optimistic that they would put up a better performance especially in defense to ensure that Ghana qualified to the next stage of the competition.

Ghana conceded four goals in their first two games in the competition, against Cape Verde and Egypt with all the goals coming from awkward defensive lapses.

“It is a very important game for us. If you look at the performance from the second game, it was better so we only have to look at the game again, analyze and see the things we could do better,” he stated.

“We can still improve and hopefully, we can just keep growing and put on a good performance in Monday’s game,” he stressed.

He said, they would be more compact against Mozambique and protect the backline to avoid conceding such goals.

However he said, they do not blame anyone for the mistakes but collectively as a team made wrong decisions which they must learn from and move on.

With the game is scheduled for Stade Alassane Ouattara in Ebimpe at 8:00pm, Ghanaian supporters in Ivory Coast would be expected to troop to the venue to support the team.

Kind courtesy MTN, nearly 200 supporters are in Ivory Coast together with hundreds from the Ghana Supporters and other groups, to cheer the national team to victory.

The supporters have been looking forward to a win that would secure Ghana’s qualification to the next stage of the competition.

By Michael D. Abayateye, Abidjan