Black Stars defender Jerome Opoku says Ghana will learn important lessons from their FIFA World Cup run as they start getting ready for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Ghana’s World Cup run ended in the Round of 32 after a close 1-0 loss to Colombia at Kansas City Stadium. Jhon Arias scored the only goal in the 14th minute.
Looking back on the loss, Opoku said the team gave their all but admitted Colombia deserved to move on.
“I think I gave the team what was needed at every moment,” the İstanbul Başakşehir defender said.
“They won the game 1-0, so that’s really it. The game plan was to win. There’s not much I can say. Colombia has done that. We didn’t, so congratulations to Colombia.”
The centre-back also talked about Marvin Senaya’s early injury, which meant Alidu Seidu had to step into the defense.
“Obviously, you need to be ready. Alidu is a great player. Marvin is too. It was unfortunate that Marvin was injured. We just need to look back at it and see where we can improve.”
Opoku believes Ghana showed the strength of African football during the tournament, but admitted the team had hoped to go further.
“It’s always great to get out of the group and prove to people that African football is doing well. Obviously, we wanted to go further. We didn’t just want to leave it at the Round of 32. We wanted to reach the Round of 16, the quarter-finals and keep being competitive.”
Even though they were disappointed, the defender praised how the team prepared and their mindset before facing Colombia.
“We’ve got great talents. We’re doing well. I think we can do better, and we always want to. The coach gave us a good team talk, and we had a good build-up. Sometimes in football things don’t go your way, but I thought the approach from the coach and the boys was good.”
Ghana ended their World Cup with one win, one draw, and two losses. Now, the Black Stars will turn their attention to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in September as they aim to recover from their World Cup disappointment.
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