The Black Meteors of Ghana defeated Congo in their opening fixture of the U-23 AFCON in Morocco on Sunday evening.
Ibrahim Tank's men began the match brightly but allowed the Congolese to dominate them going into the break.
Going into the second half, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh was taken off due to his dormancy in the second half and Emmanuel Yeboah was brought on to replace him.
Only five minutes into the second half he justified the substitution by providing the assist for the first goal scored by Ernest Nuamah with a tap in.
With 15 minutes left in the game, Terry Yegbe sent in a looping ball to find Emmanuel Yeboah which he buried it into the net to make the tie 2-0.
In the 83rd minute, Emmanuel Yeboah scored again from the penalty spot. This was after Arko Mensah missed and was reprieved with a retake because the keeper had come off the line but missed again and the penalty had to be retaken for the second time.
Late into the game, the Congolese scored two quick goals in additional time but had no chance to score a third with the match finishing 3-2 in favor of the Black Meteors.
Speaking with the media after the game, Coach Tanko expressed his displeasure with his players over the lack of composure which led to two quick goals from their opponent.
“I am extremely angry with my players. How could we let the match slip away like this?” - he exclaimed during the post-match interview.
"We will remind them of the objectives we need to achieve and the importance of our presence here"-, he added.
The Black Meteors will take on host Nation, Morocco in their next game before they face Guinea in their final group game.
Morocco however defeated Guinea by 2-1 in the opening fixture of the tournament.
📹 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦
🇬🇭 #BlackMeteors secured a vital 3-2 win in the 2023 TotalEnergies U23 African Cup of Nations opening game against Congo. 🇨🇬#BlackMeteors | #TotalEnergiesAFCONU23
— Ghana Football Association (@ghanafaofficial) June 26, 2023
