Carlos Queiroz says he is proud of his players despite Ghana's 2-0 defeat to Cote d'Ivoire in the opening Group C match of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Speaking at the post-match press conference at the Stade de la Paix in Bouaké, Queiroz praised his team's fighting spirit and insisted Ghana created the better attacking moments despite the hosts dominating possession.
Here is what he said after the game:
On the rivalry and the return leg in Accra:
We believe Ghana will equalize to have the same number of victories, so when Cote d'Ivoire come to play Ghana, we will level the head-to-head to 16 wins each. We are going to win. So, it's not a problem. When Cote d'Ivoire come, with all due respect, it will be our turn to win. As you said, it is now 16/15, so in a couple of months we will make it 16/16. I have no doubt we are going to win that game.
On the game:
As I said yesterday, I expected a very competitive game, and it was a very competitive game. The game was very competitive with so much quality from both sides. In terms of ball possession, I agree that Cote d'Ivoire had control of the game in some moments better than us, but at the end of the day, we created more opportunities, more open chances than Cote d'Ivoire. Unfortunately, we did not score. We had four clear opportunities to score in front of goal, but it didn't happen. In terms of possession, Cote d'Ivoire were better than us, but in terms of attacking penetration and creating opportunities, we were better. But the result is what we all saw. Congratulations to them.
On the performance of the team:
I have to say that I am very proud of my team, very proud of my players - the way they fought, the way they played, the way they fought against adversity. I need to be quiet and polite. It was 1-0 down and I don't think Cote d'Ivoire needed the referee to come inside the game and create an unbalanced situation.
On the penalty:
That penalty is a joke. I just saw it on television. For those of you who can see it on television, it is a joke. When we are 1-0 down and we fight for our chances, for our opportunities, somebody should not come in and make that decision. In the end, there is nothing to do about it. Cote d'Ivoire played very well, all the players played very well and congratulations, but I cannot give the congratulations to them alone, it also goes to the referee because today it's against us, tomorrow it could be against Cote d'Ivoire.
On the absence of VAR in the qualifiers:
Why don't we have VAR in an Africa Cup of Nations competition? Which example do we want to give to the world? The Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers are for the biggest competition on the continent, and we don't have VAR to help the referee make the game fair. Why don't we have VAR in Africa? What is the reason we don't have VAR in a single Africa Cup of Nations qualifier? I was born in Mozambique, I grew up here and I'm tired of this situation where referees don't do a good job.
On whether the penalty killed Ghana's momentum:
First of all, I would like to say in front of the people of Cote d'Ivoire that my comment about the mistake of the referee has nothing to do with Cote d'Ivoire. It has nothing to do with the merit or the quality of the players of Cote d'Ivoire. They played, did their job and we did our job too. But of course, to recover from 1-0 down is completely different from recovering from 2-0 down. The game was tight as always. The 16 over 15 wins show that Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire always have tight games. But the result is now gone, it is history. For us now, it is just recovery. We lost one player during the game, but now it's just to recover our players and be focused for the next game and win the next game at home. That is what we are going to do now - prepare the players as much as we can to win the next game.
On whether the result affects team morale:
This result will not affect our morale and our belief in our players. It doesn't affect absolutely anything.
On the difference in the game:
The difference was the first goal of Cote d'Ivoire. The player had a brilliant strike from outside the box. We missed our one-on-one positioning to cover the space in that moment, but he had a fantastic strike and we went into the break 1-0 down. I will talk about the second goal again because the second goal was what changed everything and made the difference.
On missed chances:
Augustine had a wonderful opportunity, Benjamin had another opportunity, Sibo also had a strike. I think the difference was exactly that we lacked a little bit of inspiration in our finishing moment. We played differently. As I said, Cote d'Ivoire had more possession.
On tactical changes:
We played a more vertical style with more vertical movements to attack the defensive line of Cote d'Ivoire. We had a first approach in the game, and a second approach when Benjamin and Felix came on and we could have scored. We had enough opportunities to score. We have to improve in that department, to improve our ability to score because this is another game that we did not score.
On final message:
Once again, I just want to thank the press for coming all the way from Ghana and just to add one thing. My comments here are the expression of a coach who has the duty to defend his team. I was polite, as you know. I was not offensive to anybody. I just have the right to say when there is a mistake. I have the right to say there is a mistake and that is what I just did. It's not to discredit anyone but to paint the right picture.
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