THE COACH of Ghana, Carlos Queiroz, has praised the dedication of his players in securing a place in the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup.
Ghana came back with an important point in a 0-0 draw with England on Tuesday in the Group L game, becoming one of the African countries that have secured a place in the Last 32.
The Black Stars, who have collected four points from two games, are in second place in Group L where they are separated by goal difference only with England who are at the top of this group. They are tied for points.
I am very proud of the way my players showed dedication, sticking to the plan of the game that we had planned to end the first half without England scoring a goal.
“My players have always believed that we have a chance to win against England, I personally count the teams that have a chance to win the World Cup,” said Queiroz.
“We have achieved our first goal, which is to advance to the second round of the tournament.”
Despite being impressed with the way his team played, Queiroz did not hide his disgust with the referee’s unsatisfactory decisions.
The coach is disgusted that his players should have received a penalty 12 minutes before the end of the game when Prince Adu was fouled in the box by Ezri Konsa but the referee, Said Martinez, waved it off.
This made the coach to be upset about the work of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
“I’m not sure if VAR is still working in the World Cup. We still have VAR, is it still working? I doubt that because that was a clear penalty. And the red card should have come out. However, in the end a point we got is better than nothing.”
The Black Stars, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2010, are one of the African champions that are being watched in this world football tournament.
It will close the group stage games against Crotia, Saturday, 11 p.m., at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.
Final matches of Group L of the FIFA World Cup:
Saturday – 11pm:
Crotia in Ghana; Panama v England