The President of Ghana, Mr Nana Akufo-Addo, has commended the Black Stars despite their defeat to Portugal in their opening Qatar 2022 World Cup fixture yesterday.
The Ghanaians went down to a 3-2 loss to the 2016 European champions, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Leao and Joao Felix scoring. Andre Ayew and substitute Osman Bukari netted for Ghana in a thrilling second half.
President Addo, who was with the squad hours before kick-off in Doha, took to Twitter to praise the boys, encouraging them to not give up in their next Group H games
“Gutsy performance by the @GhanaBlackstars in today’s match against Portugal. Very proud of the entire team,” Addo tweeted last night.
“They live to fight another day, and have shown they have what it takes to mix it up against any team in the tournament. Looking forward to the next game against South Korea.”
Portugal’s opening goal in the encounter was a controversial one as the penalty that was awarded, which Ronaldo converted, was contentious.
Referee Ismail Elfath from the United States of America pointed to the spot after Muhammed Salisu was adjudged to have brought down Ronaldo in the box, but replays showed that the contact was minimal.
Despite Ghana’s agitated protestations, the Video Assistant Referee did not invite referee Elfath to have a second look at the pitchside monitor, and the decision stood.
Retired Premier League referee Mike Dean, who is working with beIN TV for the World Cup, said the VAR team let the centre referee down.
Talking while an angle of the incident which shows Salisu getting to the ball first is on the screen, Dean insists the referee should have been advised to have a look.
“It’s scary that the decision stood,” says Dean, who was quite a controversial figure in his active days before retiring last season.
“I like to support referees all the time but you can’t support stuff like that. I can’t understand why he (the centre referee) wasn’t sent to the screen.
“In my opinion, the VAR should have got involved and invited the referee over to have another look.”
Ghana take on South Korea next on Monday, the same day Portugal will battle Uruguay.
