Ghana were all but eliminated from the African Cup of Nations last night, with the Black Stars conceding two injury time goals to draw 2-2 with Mozambique in their final group game. That result meant they took only two points from their three games, with manager Chris Hughton likely to pay for the result with his job.
Always a team with severely high expectations from within their own country, Ghana would have been expected by their fans to progress rather easily from a group that also contained Egypt and Cape Verde alongside Mozambique. However, having taken only a point from their first two games, a win was needed last night in order to ensure a place in the knockout rounds.
Despite playing poorly for much of the game, Ghana looked to be in a good position to advance having taken a 2-0 lead into injury time on the back of a pair of penalties from Jordan Ayew. What followed was a bizarre few minutes where they conceded two goals, including a 94th minute equaliser from the penalty spot.
This was the corner that the team conceded that subsequently led to that spot kick.
Why did Ofori touch it? Mozambique scored in the 95th from this corner to knock Ghana out of the AFCON 😂😂😂😂😂
pic.twitter.com/4phQzVGcM6— No Context AFCON (@NoContextEPL) January 23, 2024
Barring a hugely unlikely sequence of results in other groups, this draw will eliminate them from AFCON.
With many already unhappy with manager Chris Hughton before the tournament even began, things seemed to boil over on the back of last night's result.
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Chris Hughton called out after Ghana AFCON horror show
Ghana fans have never taken to Chris Hughton, who has only been in charge of the team since February. He previously had a stint as the team's technical advisor before taking up the job.
Performances have been poor during his spell in charge. Not only have results been inconsistent, but the brand of football has also been heavily criticised. Things already began to get heated after the first match of this tournament, with the former Ireland international being accosted by a supporter in the team hotel after the loss to Cape Verde.
In the aftermath of the Mozambique game, Hughton would seemingly be questioned by Ghana player Jospeh Paintsil.
The winger was taken off at halftime in the game, with his manager putting it down to 'fatigue'. However, Paintsil would seemingly rubbish that suggestion when told about the comments by a journalist soon after.
Ghana forward Joseph Paintsil, who was substituted at halftime because (according to Chris Hughton) he was "fatigued", was asked if it was true.
He answers: "What fatigue?"#TecnoAFCONwithGary pic.twitter.com/u6oqlfDgqD— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) January 23, 2024
The supporters also had plenty to say.
One Ghanaian journalist would even hurl abuse at Chris Hughton as he made his way out of the stadium after the game.
The Ghana Media here have taken it upon ourselves to sack whoever deserves a sack.
Hughton is the first. The rest should come
The CAF Security should be calm, we will be under control. pic.twitter.com/xf9OGBDptR— Saddick Adams (@SaddickAdams) January 22, 2024
The result also drew a predictable response back at home.
Ghanaian journalist said he was thrilled to see that the Chris Hughton 'horror experiment' would be brought to an end after the team's shambolic showing at AFCON.
We can finally say goodbye to this horror Chris Hughton experiment - @OtiAdjei#GhanaTonight #AFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/Tn4s1Hk22g
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) January 23, 2024
On the bright side, we can finally say goodbye to this horror Chris Hughton experiment.
I was convinced he was the best man for Ghana, I said the same two years ago when we lost to Comoros. But with everything that has happened now...
Any time a coach makes a change and makes his team worse off, there is a problem. The same thing happened tonight. It's unbelievable.
It is anticipated that the 65-year old will be relieved of his duties over the coming days.
Chris Hughton had previously been heavily linked with the Ireland job, at one point being considered as one of the two favourites alongside Lee Carsley. However, on the back of his lack of success with Ghana, he has seemingly dropped well down the pecking order ahead the announcement of the new manager next month.
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