My own substitutions failed me against South Africa – CK Akonor

Black Stars head coach, CK Akonor has said his changes in the second half failed him following the humiliated defeat to South Africa in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Monday evening.

A late goal by Bongokhule Hlongwane was enough to give South Africa all three points against Ghana at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg.

Bafana Bafana leapfrog the Black Stars after the win and now top Group G in the World Cup qualifiers with four points.

Akonnor brought on Baba Iddrisu to help Mubarak Wakaso and Emmanuel Lomotey shore up the defense and see out what looked destined to be a draw but the South Africans found the opening just five minutes from time.

Akonnor said while the first half was satisfactory, his second half changes did not have the needed impact.

He said: “Well, we started very well in the first half, tactically we were very disciplined. It went the way we want it. [But] we were not clinical upfront, that’s the problem. But I was satisfied with the way we played in terms of controlling the game.”

“In the second half, we somehow lost the midfield in terms of how we want to play because we believed that we could win the game. We did one or two substitutions, which really went the other way round and we kept dropping and dropping.”

The Black Stars return to action next month with a doubleheader against Zimbabwe in the qualifiers. Ghana will host Zimbabwe on October 9 and travel to Harare for the return leg is scheduled for 12 October.