Ghana coach Annor Walker praised his players' positive second-half attitude after a 2-0 win over Nigeria in the first leg of the African Nations Championships (CHAN) qualifiers final round.
The Black Galaxies won the first leg encounter at the Cape Coast Stadium thanks to a penalty by Daniel Afriyie Barnieh and a late goal by Suraj Seidu. Both goals came in the second half, when Black Galaxies played much better than in the first.
“In actual fact, it was a difficult game especially in the first half because the Nigerians didn’t allow us to play the way we wanted. So, after the first half, we talked to the players to change their mentality and play aggressively like how Nigeria did in the first half. After the break, I think the players changed their mindset and that paid off for us,” he said.
“In all, I will say it was a difficult game but all the same God has seen us through. We have struggled in the first half in our last two games (Qatar and Nigeria) but against Benin, it wasn’t like that because we had the chance to score two early goals in the first half. Against Qatar, we struggled a bit until the second half because they scored two goals which disrupted us. Nigeria too made it difficult for us in the first half and it is good that we have noticed our shortfalls, going forward we will change the narrative” he said.
The second leg is scheduled for next week Sunday in Abuja, with the winner of the tie qualifying for the CHAN tournament in Algeria next year.