Baba Rahman has been cleared by Otto Addo of any responsibility for Ghana’s three goals conceded during their 3-2 loss to Portugal in their 2022 World Cup first match on Thursday.
Black Stars’ season got off to a bad start when they narrowly lost to Fernando Santos’ team.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the opening goal for Portugal from the penalty spot after the first half ended scoreless, but Andre Ayew, the Ghanaian captain, equalized from close range.
Joao Felix converted a beautifully clipped finish for Portugal’s second goal, with substitute Rafael Leao coolly stroked in just seconds after coming on, sealing the victory with two goals in two minutes.
Osman Bukari scored a late consolation goal for Ghana, but the ninth minute of stoppage time almost saw real drama break out.
“Therefore, the aspect of press people that I dislike at times is that you undoubtedly live for bad press. But he was such a good defender previously. And if you do, you have to add that before the event, he gave such strong defense, “added coach Addo.
“He made some really, pretty good passes up front. It’s challenging. You sprint backwards, I don’t know if you’ve played football. His position was the issue.”
“So, if he would have been a little bit faster by taking up inner position that nobody can play in between the lines, they could have only played him in the feet. But he was a little bit too wide, coming inside, he was unlucky and the ball went through his legs, really, really unlucky. But its really, really difficult to stop the ball whiles you are running sideways.”
The defeat means Black Stars are bottom of Group H after Uruguay and South Korea played out a goalless draw earlier on Thursday.
The Black Stars will now switch their attention to their attention to the match against South Korea on Monday before taking on Uruguay on December 2 at the Education City stadium.