Coach Desmond Ofei and his Assistant Nii Odartey Lamptey have applauded the Black Satellites for their impressive performance against the Gambia in their African Games Men’s tournament match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday evening.
A brilliant all-round display saw Ghana win the game 3-1 with Aziz Misibau, Abdul Aziz Issah and Jerry Afriyie all on the scoresheet.
Former Ghana international Nii Odartey Lamptey who is deputy coach of the side, joined Coach Ofei at the post-match press conference after the convincing win.
And here’s what they had to say when they met the press at the media centre of the stadium:
Coach Desmond Sakyi Ofei:
“We are not too surprised because I know the qualities of the boys. We have to congratulate the players once again because they have been working really hard. We’ve been pushing them hard.”
“I told them if they are courageous, if they show hunger I’m sure every opponent will have it difficult playing against us.”
“We are very happy for them because they deserve it and because they’ve been working really hard.”
“I think we had full control of the game and we created a lot of chances. We were unlucky with the penalty and gave one goal away as a gift. The response was fantastic and the boys really wanted to prove something today and they did.”
“Even the likes of Messi do miss chances. We scored three goals and it could have been four but we were happy. For me we had full control of the game and after we missed the penalty it didn’t cause us to panic.”
“We just had to rewake the players again and they responded well. We changed shape a bit, we went to a back five because we felt we our left central defender was having cramps so we needed to support him and we had to change our captain who was also suffering from a knock”.
“Our current GFA President Mr Kurt Okraku is very passionate about getting the right players local and abroad to get opportunities to play in the Black Stars. So if these boys show quality and perform consistently, not only in this tournament but make it a lifestyle and if they are ready they can get the chance in the senior team.”
“We are keeping tabs on these and we have plans for all these boys so if they are ready surely they will get their chances.”
Assistant Coach Nii Odartey Lamptey:
“We were not happy with the draw in our last game so we spoke with the boys and we were ready to go all out today”.
“We told them what is at stake and the opportunity this competition offers them. It’s a platform for young players to market themselves “.
“Being in the national colours is more than anything. As hosts of the tournament, we told the boys we should be determined to win it and I am not surprised today they gave out their best.”
“As a footballer when you are playing and you see your home fans at the stadium it makes you happy and I hope on Friday they will be here in their numbers as well”.
Source:ghanafa.org
