'Poor preparation cost Meteors in Congo'

The Technical Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Francis Oti Akenten has attributed the Black Meteors disastrous campaign at the All African Games (AAG) to poor preparations ahead of the tournament.

The CAF technical instructor shielded the head coach of the dream team away from blame singling out inadequate camping as the bane of the side’s early elimination at the continental gathering.

The dream team gave up early for the defense of their title at Congo Brazzaville, leaving the tournament at the group stages due to a 2-0 second group match at the hands of Nigeria.

Many Ghanaians are blaming the technical department for the team’s early departure from the tournament but the technical for the Ghana Football Association thought otherwise.

He told sports crusader, “Preparation ahead of the All Africa Games was not enough for the team. To assemble home based players for a tournament, you need to keep them together for a very long time which the Black Meteors did not get.

The competitive and keen nature of the just ended league prevented many clubs from releasing their players amid fears of relegation at the end of the season.

This in turn affected the preparation of the team ahead of the tournament.

Management should have followed the players to their various clubs and interact with their coaches on how to best use the players.

We cannot blame anybody for the failure of this U-23 team because continuous camping and play could have changed the outcome of the team", he noted.