Barnieh missed a lot of chances but his general play was good – Ibrahim Tanko

Head coach of the Ghana U-23 team, Ibrahim Tanko has defended striker Daniel Afriyie Barnieh after he squandered several chances in their game against Algeria U-23 on Tuesday.

Despite missing several opportunities, Barnieh's overall performance was praised by Tanko as the Black Meteors secured a 1-0 win over Algeria to qualify for the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco.

"The whole team played very well but he spoilt a lot of chances which I think no player wants to miss. He is a very important player to us and I hope going forward he will score a lot of goals for us," said Tanko.

He reiterated that Barnieh's performance was still important for the team and that his missed chances should not be cloud people's judgement of him.

Tanko hopes that the striker will be able to improve and score more goals as the team looks ahead to the tournament.

The Black Meteors have qualified for the 2023 U23 AFCON which will be hosted in Morocco.

JNA/KPE