Black Stars captain Jordan Ayew has praised the team’s second-half response in Wednesday’s 1-0 FIFA World Cup win over Panama, saying Ghana grew in confidence and fought together as a team to secure three points in the dying minutes. With England next in Group L, the squad is taking it game by game but believes anything is possible at the World Cup.

He spoke to ghanafa.org after the match on Wednesday

On the Panama match

The first half didn’t go as planned, but we were patient. They kept the ball well and we soaked up the pressure. We looked more composed and direct. In the second half a lot changed — we grew in confidence and kept possession much better.

On team strength

The substitutions helped because we knew we had to show our strength. The energy level was very high. We played better, we were more aggressive, we fought together as a team and scored the winning goal in the dying minutes. That’s all that matters.

On the next games:

We have two important games left. We take it game by game. We are focused on securing the three points in the next match and after that we think about the last match. It’s always difficult playing at the World Cup. There are no easy games, but we believe in ourselves and we feel that anything is possible. The next game is equally important, and we are ready for it.

GFA COMMUNICATIONS