Assistant coach of Ghana's U-17 team, the Black Starlets, Nana Kweku Agyemang, has declared that his players played with utmost determination and effort against Nigeria in their recent WAFU B U-17 playoff match.
The game, which took place on Tuesday at the University of Ghana Stadium, saw the Black Starlets narrowly defeated by the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria with a score of 3-2.
Speaking after the game, Kweku Agyemang said: "It is very difficult to accept we played our hearts out the boys actually played good football again but at the end of the day mistakes cost us,"
"Throughout the tournament, we had weaknesses with the centre-backs; both centre-backs we had difficulties.
"If you take the second goal, for example, we've taught them to protect the middle of the penalty area which includes the other fullback. In this case, you saw both centre-backs moving out of those areas to try and protect the areas that the midfielders were supposed to.
"So preparatory mistakes cost us in terms of the way we defended against Nigeria," he added.
The defeat means any hopes of the Black Starlets making the 2025 U-17 AFCON are dashed with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) insisting on a 12-team tournament.