Black Stars defender Alexander Dziku has said the team must work hard to avoid elimination from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote D’ Ivoire, after they were defeated by Cape Verde 2-1, in their opening group game on Sunday.

Having lost the first three points in the competition, Dziku dreads what happened to the team in Cameroon in 2021, might be repeated if they don’t work hard to avoid defeat in the next game.

‘I was in the team during the last AFCON, our elimination in the first round remains the worst memory of my career and I don’t want to relive that,’ he stated at post-match press conference.

Dziku, who won the man of the match award after the Cape Verde defeat, said ‘We deserved more from the match. Just when we were coming into the game, we conceded the second goal, even though we were on top of the game.

‘We didn’t create many chances we didn’t utilize them. It is why we couldn’t win,’ Djiku said.

Djiku put up a solid performance to win the TotalEnergies Man of the Match accolade de
spite his country’s 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde in their Group B opener of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023.

He scored the equalizer and also cleared his lines to prevent a clear goalscoring chance from Cape Verde.

The Black Stars would have to revive against Egypt, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Mozambique.

Source: Ghana News Agency