Hayford regrets Ghana’s absence from African Nations Championship

Sports news for Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Source: goal.com

01/26/2021

Famous Ghanaian coach Bashir Hayford lamented the nation’s absence from the current African Nations Championship in Cameroon.

Ghana, double finalist, are absent from the sixth edition of the tournament after failing to overtake their neighbor from Burkina Faso in the qualifying series.

This is the third time in a row that the home-based Black Stars have failed to qualify for the competition.

“Ghana as a country does not set targets for the Chan tournament and that is why we are still struggling to qualify,” said Hayford, currently head coach of Legon Cities, Ghanaian Premier League team. , to Hot FM.

“Football is a very different game where the team will have to be together for a while before they compete but what do we see here in Ghana, sometimes two weeks of preparation and that doesn’t help our teams at all, especially our national teams. “

Ghana finished second in the inaugural competition in Côte d’Ivoire in 2009, losing to DR Congo in the final.

After a group stage exit in the next edition in Sudan, the Black Stars rebounded again, reaching their second final in three events at the 2014 rally in South Africa.

Their second attempt to win a final, however, ended in disappointment once again as they succumbed to Libya in a penalty shootout.

“I am very surprised that Ghana did not qualify for the Chan competition. For me it is very strange. I believe Ghana have quality players to play in this competition, ”Hearts of Oak head coach Kosta Papic said recently of Ghana’s absence from the centerpiece in Cameroon.

After three consecutive appearances for Chan, Ghana missed the competition for the first time in 2016 when they lost to Cote d’Ivoire on the away goals rule after going 2-2 on aggregate in the playoffs.

After their inability to make the tournament in Rwanda, the Black Stars saw disappointment in the 2018 Morocco race after a 4-3 total loss to Burkina Faso.

In qualifying for the current championship in Cameroon, Ghana lost to Burkina Faso for the second time in a row, this time in a 1-0 loss on aggregate.

The Black Stars hope to make a comeback for the next edition of the competition in Algeria next year.