ACCORDING to head coach Carlos Queiroz, Ghana would have beaten Colombia in their round of 32 World Cup clash if the Black Stars had been braver and more experienced.
The Black Stars were outplayed and beaten 1-0 by Colombia in the knockout clash in the early hours of today.
Ghana’s lack of experience and inability to stay calm under pressure were decisive factors in the defeat, Queiroz claimed.
Jhon Arias scored Colombia’s only goal in the 14th minute, shortly after the African team were forced into a defensive reshuffle when right-back Marvin Senaya went off injured and was replaced by Alidu Seidu.
“I felt really quickly that some of the Ghanaian players were fearful. They were not cool, calm, and collected when the pressure hit,” Queiroz said.
“It’s a very young team. We need more experience, we need time for some players to win what we call maturity,” the 73-year-old Portuguese manager added.
“When you play this kind of competition at this level, you cannot only count on the enthusiasm of the youths.”
Queiroz said Colombia were the better team on the night and deserved to move forward.
“The goal came too early for us … It took some time for us to adjust and recover from that substitution, and the goal came at the moment we were trying to resettle our team,” Queiroz, a former Real Madrid manager and Manchester United assistant manager, said.
The Ghana coach acknowledged his side improved in the second half, but were never in control of the contest.
