Ghana suffered a narrow 2-1 loss to arch-rivals Nigeria on Friday evening in an international friendly at the Stade Marrakesh.
Nigeria scored a penalty by Cyriel Dessers in the first half and a well-worked second after 80 minutes through Ademola Lookman while Jordan Ayew converted from the spot to give Ghana a consolation.
Here are five things we’ve learned:
- Lawrence Ati-Zigi showed why it was wrong not to make him Ghana’s starting goalkeeper at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. He was excellent and very instrumental in how the team played.
- There was massive improvement in a long problem the team has been grappling with – that is ball progression. There was evident combination of passes, creation of chances and controlled the game even with 10 men.
- Contentious refereeing. The officiating on the day had left a bit of sour taste on the Black Stars. Many argued the penalty converted by Dessers to give the Super Eagles the lead should not have stood. The same for the red card handed out to Jerome Opoku.
- There was a little disagreement between Antoine Semenyo and Ernest Nuamah as to who should take Ghana’s penalty won late in the game by Semenyo. It wasn’t a big disagreement but a normal football thing you see among players.
- That said. Jordan Ayew, captain on the day, was alert to the situation and took the ball away from the two of them and converted the penalty. Great leadership.
Next for the Black Stars is a second friendly against Uganda on Tuesday also in Morocco.