Charles Akonnor has admitted his substitutions did not work according to plan following the Black Stars defeat to South Africa in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Monday evening.
Ghana were beaten 1-0 at FNB Stadium, leaving them one point behind Bafana Bafana who are now top of Group G after two matches in the qualifiers.
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.
