Chris Hughton and Ghana had a disastrous start to their African Cup of Nations campaign yesterday, losing 2-1 to Cape Verde in the their opening fixture in the Ivory Coast.
Ghana would have entered the game as favourites, although their performance certainly did not justify that tag. They would find themselves behind after only 17 minutes, with Jamiro Monteiro giving Cape Verde the lead.
While the West African side would equalise through Alexander Djiku in the second half, there was more drama to come in injury time.
Garry Rodrigues would score a late winner for Cape Verde to secure all three points.
Goal: Garry Rodrigues | 🇬🇭 Ghana 1-2 Cape Verde 🇨🇻
Big misteke from Alexander Djiku and Iddrisu Babapic.twitter.com/lRgCNC5QSm— FootColic ⚽️ (@FootColic) January 14, 2024
Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto Lopes would play the full game for the winning side.
This result puts Ghana under serious pressure in their AFCON group, with games against Egypt and Mozambique still to come. With the growing discontent surrounding Chris Hughton's performance in his role as manager, things seemed to boil over in the aftermath of the game.
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Chris Hughton attacked by Ghana fan after AFCON loss
Chris Hughton is not the most popular figure among Ghana fans, with many of them less than impressed with his track record since becoming the national team head coach. Some were even calling for him to be sacked ahead of AFCON, while there is an expectation that he will let go if they team underperforms in this tournament.
There was an unsavoury incident after yesterday's game, with a Ghana fan reportedly attacking the former Ireland international at the team hotel.
BREAK: One member of the Ghanaian supporters in Abidjan has been arrested for an attack on coach Chris Hughton at the team’s hotel.
It took the intervention of some Ghanaian diplomats who were around to save the coach.
The unidentified man has been handed to the Ivorian Police.— Saddick Adams (@SaddickAdams) January 14, 2024
Ghana fans have incredibly high expectations for their team, ones that have not been met for quite some time now. They were eliminated in the group stage in the 2022 edition of AFCON, having failed to win any of their three games at the tournament.
Chris Hughton has been linked with the Ireland job in recent months, with an announcement on that position set to come next month.
Whether he gets the Ireland gig or not, it seems his time with Ghana is quickly coming to an end.
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