2023 Afcon: Cape Verde scored sloppy goals – Jordan Ayew reflects on Black Stars defeat

Ghana international Jordan Ayew has reflected on the Black Stars’ defeat to Cape Verde in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations opening game.

The West Africa powerhouse succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde, through goals by Jamiro Monteiro and Garry Rodrigues.

Cape Verde opened the scoring after 17 minutes through Monteiro, who easily tapped in a rebound after Richard Ofori parried a long shot.  The Black Stars leveled the pegging through Fenerbache defender Alexander Djiku.

However, comical defending led to Cape Verde scoring a late winner through Garry Rodrigues.

Ayew acknowledged after the game that the team had it within their grasp, but poor concentration and lax defending ultimately cost them the win.

“We always lack concentration at key moments and they [Cape Verde] scored sloppy goals,” Ayew lamented. “As a team, we need to bounce back quickly. We can’t keep saying it’s a young team; we’ve been together for two years.”

“We have two more games left, and we must stay positive. We’ll take it one game at a time and see how it goes,” he said.

The Black Stars now find themselves in a challenging position in the Group following the defeat. They are currently bottom of the table without a point.

The West Africa powerhouse will face Egypt on Thursday in their second group B clash.