Black Stars of Ghana put the Mali humiliation behind them to hammer Asian champions Qatar by 5-1 in an international friendly match on Monday evening.
Goals from Tariqe Fosu, Andre Ayew ( brace), Samuel Owusu and Caleb Ekuban handed C.K Akonnor his first win as Ghana head coach after Mali spoilt his debut.
Ghana has a double-header against Sudan next month in the 2021 AFCON qualification tournament and new Ghana coach Akonnor uses the games against Mali and Qatar to sharpen his tools.
Here are some five important things we at SPORTSWorldGhana.com learned from the big Ghana win against Qatar.
1.Tariqe Fosu can become an important player for Ghana
After an exciting debut against Mali, the Brentford winger produced another great performance against Qatar on Monday. Fosu earned praises from many Ghanaians following his display at right back against Th Eagles and despite the defeat he was singled out by many fans for what was a solid display especially when it was his first time out with the national team of Ghana.
It was Tariqe that opened the scoring with a clever connection after Jordan Ayew’s strike was parried by the Qatari goalkeeper to the way of the Brentford man. His work rate and overall involvement in the game suggest that he could become a key member of the team if he continues to deliver top performances like we have seen.
2.Black Stars defensive frailties laid bare one again
The performance improved against Qatar but the defensive problems of the Black Stars did not disappear on Monday against the Asians and this is a major issue that needs to be solved. Almoez Ali managed to find space in between Aidoo and Djiku to latch onto a long pass before going pass Razak Abalora to slot home the equalizer.
That means the team of C.K Akonnor has failed to keep a clean sheet in two games in a row after conceding three times against Mali and once against Qatar.
3.Alexander Djiku adds to C.K Akonnor’s defensive options
C.K Akonnor is spoilt for choices in the area of central defence. He has Nicholas Opoku, Kassim Adams, Joseph Aidoo , Daniel Amartey, John Boye, Jonathan Mensah and now Djiku who is also comfortable playing in midfield. That is a long list of center backs that is available to the former Black Stars captain to choose from. The Strasbourg man started in midfield in Ghana’s 3-0 loss to Mali but against Mali he was pushed back to partner Celta Vigo’s A
4.Jordan Ayew still struggles to score
Strikers score goals. It is the standard to measure the best strikers and the former Marseille attacker has not scored in his 15 matches for club and country. That is a long time. To be fair to Jordan he did well to create the Ghana opening goal of Tariqe Fosu but what is he actually need to boost his confidence is to shake the net by himself. The Crystal Palace striker also assisted his brother Andre to score his second.
5. Black Stars improved with 4-4-2 formation
Akonnor set up his team in a 4-4-2 formation with Andre Ayew supporting his younger brother Jordan up front. Against Mali, the Stars played 4-3-3 with Eugene Ansah, Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew are the three attackers but Ansah would have to be dropped as Akonnor varies his starting formation.
The Ghanaians were generally better than their opponents in most aspects of the game and the scoreline proves that.
