Ghana U23 Eliminated from 2023 U23 AFCON : The Black Meteors have been dumped from the ongoing 2023 TotalEnergies U23 Africa Cup of Nations tournament after finishing third in Group A on Friday night. 

The Ghana U23 team drew 1-1 against Guinea in the final group match to secure four points, behind Morocco and Guinea who finished the Group stage with 9 points and 6 points respectively to reach the semifinals of the competition.

CFR Cluj forward Emmanuel Yeboah netted in the 33rd minute to give Ghana the lead but the the Guineans however drew parity in the second half thanks to a superb volley by Ibrahima Breze in the 61st minute and that were the only goals of the game.

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Speaking at the post match press conference Coach Ibrahim Tanko expressed disappointment at the team’s early exit from the competition.

“We disappointed Ghanaians and ourselves. We thought we will go far in this competition but this is what happened”.

It’s a very painful pill to take.After leading at halftime and come back to concede such a goal is so bitter”

“But that is football. We prepared to win but in the end we got a draw which wasnt enough to take us into the semi-finals”, Coach Tanko stated.

The Head Coach further stated that the technical team will evaluate the team’s performance at the tournament.

“We have to analyze the games we played and there’s a lot we could do better”, he added.

Morocco and Guinea are through to the semi-finals and they will face the two best teams from Group B.

The host nation defeated Congo by 1-0 thanks to Younes Taha El Idrissi’s single strike in the first half as the North Africans advance to the last four with a one hundred percent record – 3 wins from 3 matches.

Ghana Starting Line – Up against Guinea :

GK Ibrahim Danlad

David Oppong Afrane (King Faisal FC) , Nathaniel Adjei (Hammarby , Sweden) , Terry Yegbe (SJK Akatemia , Finland)

Samuel Ashie-Quaye (Great Olympics) , Hafiz Ibrahim (Attram de Visser Soccer Academy) , Emmanuel Essiam (FC Basel , Switzerland) , Edmund Arko Mensah (Honka , Finland).

Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (Sporting CP , Portugal) , Emmanuel Yeboah (CFR Cluj) , Daniel Afriyie Barnieh (FC Zurich)

Subs in :

Ernest Nuamah for Emmanuel Yeboah in the 52nd minute

Godwin Bentil for David Oppong Afrane in the 68th minute

Ibrahim Zubairu for Afriyie Barnieh in the 76th minute

Aaron Essel for Ashie-Quaye in the 76th minute.