Four lessons from Ghana's 1-0 defeat against Angola

Black Stars' 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign got off to a disappointing start after suffering an upset at the hands of Angola on September 5, 2024.

The Central African side pipped Ghana 1-0 to earn their third win over the West African side.

Milson put the dagger through the hearts of Ghana, netting a stoppage-time winner to snap their 24-year unbeaten record at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

The defeat leaves Ghana at the bottom of the group while Angola takes the top spot. GhanaWeb takes a look at some lessons learned from the disappointing defeat.

Black Stars lack a target man

The Black Stars were the better side but failed to break down Angola's defence. Ghana played without a target man who could run in behind or attract numbers to disrupt the Angolan defence.

Also, the Black Stars resorted to crossing at some point, but without the presence of a target man, Angola had no problems dealing with them.

Awful pitch

The pitch looked lush and green but its reaction to pressure was terrible leaving concerns on how CAF approved the venue for the game.

The game was largely marred by the horrible state of the pitch, hindering both teams from moving the ball as desired.

Both coaches, Otto Addo and Pedro Goncalves, complained and expressed their disappointment in the pitch.

Set pieces dilemma

The Black Stars won the most corners and free-kicks in the game because they were dominant. However, they could not make any of them count.

Set pieces are vital and produce match-deciding goals when executed well. Hence, teams come up with routines for their set pieces to get the edge over their opponent.

However, the Black Stars lack a good set piece taker and also do not have a rehearsed routine for set pieces.

Fans' gratuitous behavior

The fans became the talking point after the game, vandalizing the seats and the pitch-side boards in reaction to the unwanted result.

Before the vandalism, there was a moment when play was interrupted after a fan invaded the pitch.

The unpleasant behavior could attract fines for Ghana and, to a large extent, a ban if CAF sees it as necessary.

EE/EK