CK Akonnor has expressed disappointment at the performance of some players who he gave the chance to shine in Monday's defeat against South Africa.
Ghana dropped to second in Group G after losing to South Africa by a lone goal courtesy Bongokuhle Hlongwane's second-half strike at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
In a game the Black Stars failed to have a shot on target and could not create chances, CK Akonnor shockingly believed his outfit rather were not clinical in front of goal.
Speaking in his post-match press conference he said: "well we started very well in the first half, tactically we were very disciplined. It went the way we want it. [But] we were not clinical upfront, that’s the problem. But I was satisfied with the way we played in terms of controlling the game.â€
“In the second half, we somehow lost the midfield in terms of how we want to play because we believed that we could win the game. We did one or two substitutions, which really went the other way round and we kept dropping and dropping.â€
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England based quintet, Daniel Amartey (Leicester City), Jeffrey Schlupp (Leicester City), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Andrew Yiadom (Reading FC) and Baba Abdul Rahman (Reading FC) were not part of the team the played on Monday following the decision of Premier League clubs not to allow their players travel to COVID-19 red-listed countries including South Africa.
Others who missed the trip are Rennes forward Kamal Deen Suleymana and Daniel Kyereh of German side St. Pauli - the duo were recalled by their clubs.
Due to this CK Akonnor made changes to his lineup by giving others the chance.
Akonnor picked Fatawu Mohammed and Gideon Mensah to play at full back with Jonathan Mensah and Alexander Djiku in central defense. Emmanuel Lomotey partnered Mubarak Wakaso in midfield while Majeed Ashimeru played in the hole behind Andre Ayew with Yaw Yeboah and Joel Fameyeh operating on the flanks.
According to him, the fringe players failed to come to the party.
"... I have given few guys the chance a couple of times, today I must say I was a little bit disappointed. I don't want to be hard on them and I won't single them but those who were given the chance didn't really take it. It somehow affected the flow of play," he concluded.
The Black Stars will next play Zimbabwe in back to back games in November 2021.
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