Uganda 1-0 Ghana: My bird’s eye view and ratings

To begin with, the starting line-up selected by stand in coach Maxwell Konadu robbed the Black Stars of any real creativity in midfield.

Rabiu Mohammed and Afriyie Acquah are very similar to each other, and Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, who was supposed to play off lone striker Abdul Majeed Waris, looked lost in that role until he was withdrawn deeper to partner Rabiu Mohammed in the second half.

Harrison Afful began well but was given a torrid time throughout most of the game, and John Boye’s return to the back line did not have much of an effect.

Indeed, the Kayseri Erciyesspor defender committed two mistakes that almost cost the Black Stars.

Ghana is still finding it difficult defending set pieces and Razak Braimah, together with his defenders must take collective blame for the Ugandan goal.

Christian Atsu failed to sparkle and the same applied to stand in captain, Andre Ayew. What it meant was that Waris was starved of service for most of the match.

Until the introduction of Solomon Asante and David Accam, Ghana looked pedestrian and lacking in ideas in terms of troubling the Ugandan defence.

Also, movement off the ball was very poor, and it made passing difficult. So most of the time, long balls were launched from the back and it did not help.

This game also exposed Maxwell Konadu’s shortcomings because clearly, a few players are too comfortable in their positions and perhaps he has to display enough testicular fortitude to drop certain big names for the must win game on Wednesday against Togo.

All in all, it was a poor performance from the Black Stars and they have it all to do against a resurgent Togo in the last qualifying match.

Ghana XI v Uganda: Razak Braimah (4.5/10) - Harrison Afful (4/10), John Boye (4.5/10), Jonathan Mensah (5/10), Baba Abdul Rahman (5.5/10) – Rabiu Mohammed (6.5/10), Afriyie Acquah (4.5/10)/Solomon Asante (6/10) – Christian Atsu (4/10)/ David Accam (4.5/10), Emmanuel Agyemang Badu (5/10), Andre Ayew (4.5/10)/Mubarak Wakaso (4/10) – Abdul Majeed Waris (5.5/10)