Carlos Queiroz
Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz has defended his criticism of the referee’s penalty decision in the Black Stars’ 2-0 defeat by Ivory Coast, insisting his comments were not intended to diminish the hosts’ performance.
The Black Stars began their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with defeat at the Stade de Bouak, where Brighton forward Malick Yalcouy gave the Elephants a first-half lead before captain Franck Kessi sealed victory from the penalty spot after the break.
The decisive moment came when Abdul Fatawu Issahaku was penalised for bringing down Yalcouy inside the area, allowing the 2023 African champions to double their advantage.
Speaking after the match, Queiroz said he accepted Ivory Coast’s quality but maintained that the penalty changed the complexion of the contest.
“First of all, I would like to say in front of the people of Cte d’Ivoire that my comment about the mistake of the referee has nothing to do with Cte d’Ivoire,” Queiroz said.
“It has nothing to do with the merit or the quality of the players of Cte d’Ivoire. They played, did their job and we did our job too.”
The Portuguese coach argued that overturning a one-goal deficit would have been a very different challenge from recovering after conceding a second.
“To recover from 1-0 down is completely different from recovering from 2-0 down,” he added.
Queiroz described the encounter as another closely contested chapter in one of African football’s fiercest rivalries.
“The game was tight as always. The 16 over 15 wins show that Ghana and Cte d’Ivoire always have tight games.”
Despite the setback, the 73-year-old was keen to shift attention to Ghana’s next assignment, revealing that the Black Stars had also suffered an injury during the match.
“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.”
The Black Stars have since returned to Accra, where they will continue preparations for Tuesday’s Group C clash against The Gambia as they seek their first points of the qualifying campaign.
Ghana are attempting to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after failing to qualify for the previous edition, ending a run of more than two decades of consecutive appearances at the continental tournament.
