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

Black Stars head coach Carlos Queiroz has expressed satisfaction with his team's performance in their game against Cote d'Ivoire despite missing out on all three points.

Ghana's hopes of making a winning start to their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign suffered a setback as the Black Stars lost 2-0 to the Elephants in Bouaké on Thursday evening.

Malick Yalcouye opened the scoring with a powerful strike from outside the box before Frank Kessie doubled the Côte d'Ivoire's lead from the penalty spot in the second half.

Despite the loss, Queiroz still found the positive in his side's game.

"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.

"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."

According to the Portuguese trainer, his players were better in some departments of the game but couldn't make their advantage count.

"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."

With defeat in the opening game, the Black Stars will now regroup and turn their attention to the game against Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, September 29.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.