Head coach for the Angola national team, Pedro Goncalves spoke hard after a painful defeat to the Black Stars on Thursday evening in Kumasi by 1-0. Ghana won the game via Antoine Semenyo’s injury-time strike.
“We need to keep our focus in these two games to stay on course. I believe we can beat Ghana although for sure will be hard – but will be hard for Ghana to beat us too”, Pedro Goncalves told ghanasportspage.com on Friday evening.
“Our challenge right now is to play and win against Ghana even if, for sure, they are the favourites of the group,” added Goncalves. “They were one of five African nations at the World Cup and they definitely grew from that experience and strengthened with players from England and one of the better strikers from La Liga,” Goncalves said in reference to Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki Williams, who debuted for the Black Stars not long before the World Cup in Qatar.
“We know they are strong but our mentality is that if we play a better team, for sure, we will be getting better ourselves. Our mindset is ‘we like to challenge ourselves with better opponents’. “That’s why, when we’ve played against Egypt, Gabon, South Africa and other good countries, there was never a time the opponent dominated us on the field. “I’ve felt that even in the games where we have lost, we have had a chance to win.” the Portuguese International Pedro asserted.
“Well, We have a good chance to qualify”, he concluded.
Ghana will travel to play the return fixture at the Lauda Stadium on Monday, 27th March 2023. The Black Stars is leading Group E with 7 points. The kick-off of the game is scheduled for 17H00