The Black Stars of Ghana succumbed to a 1-2 loss to Niger at the Accra Sports stadium in the final round of games in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers.
Niger who stood a chance of qualifying for the tournament at the start of the game, began brightly with good incursions in the game.
In the 11th minute, Black Stars’ goalkeeper, Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, made a timely save to prevent Niger from breaking the deadlock.
However, in the 21st minute, Niger broke the deadlock after Ousseini Badamasi headed in a pin-point cross from a corner kick. Niger then missed a glorious chance in the 25th minute after Abdoul Amoustapha beautifully dribbled past Issac Afful and set up a pass for Daniel Sosah who missed the Ghana goal by inches.
Ghana skipper Mohammed Kudus had an opportunity to equalize in the 36th minute, but his shot lacked the power to beat Niger goalkeeper Mahamadou Djibo.
Otto Addo made his first substitution by bringing in Osman Bukari for Nathaniel Adjei in the 39th minute of the first half.
In the second half, Ebenezer Annan and Kamaradini Mamudu came on for Isaac Afful, and Kingsley Schindler, Jerry Afriyie also came on for Ransford Yeboah in the 58th minute.
Jerry Afriyie scored a debut goal for Ghana in the 67th minute to restore parity. In the 71st minute, Razak Simpson missed the net by a whisker through a header.
Ebenezer Abban came on for the injured Terry Yegbe in the 78th minute. Mohammed Kudus nearly gave Ghana the lead in the 83rd minute when his freekick hit the post.
Oumar Sako eventually got the winner for Niger in the 90th minute after nodding the ball home from a freekick. Ghana rallied and had a chance to level when Mohammed Kudus was fouled in the box, but Niger’s goalkeeper Mahamadou Djibo saved the penalty kick by Kudus to end proceedings.
Despite the win for Niger, they failed to qualify for the AFCON 2025 after the draw between Angola and Sudan, which propelled Sudan into the AFCON ahead of Niger in the group.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Benjamin Yamoah
