Barreto slams Ghana's FA

Ghana coach Mariano Barreto has blamed poor preparation for the Black Stars' 1-0 defeat against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou.

The Stallions took the three qualifying points from Saturday's Group Two fixture, when Mamadou Zongo scored in the 80th minute.

And Ghana's Portuguese coach, who called his team's pre-match preparations 'laughable' last week, has criticised the attitude taken towards this game by his employers.

"Burkina Faso prepared for this game for three weeks," Barreto told BBC Sport.

"They stayed two weeks in Europe, and then they arrived in Burkina Faso one week before the game.

"We only had three days to prepare for the match."

I hope the people in Ghana take this as a good lesson Ghana coach Mariano Barreto

Barreto was furious last week after only ten of 19 foreign-based players called up for the 2006 World Cup qualifier had arrived in Ghana by last Monday.

The Portuguese coach blamed a general apathy towards the national team, especially from local clubs, for hindering the Black Stars' progress.

"All the national teams have time to prepare for a match, so I hope the people in Ghana take this as a good lesson," Barreto added.

Group Two results

"Because we have good players.

"Everybody knows that, but that doesn't mean we can make a good team without training."

Barreto had tried to arrange two friendly matches ahead of the Burkina Faso match as a way to prepare, but both were cancelled.

Although he is disappointed with the attitude taken towards the Black Stars within Ghana, the coach did not blame his players for the narrow defeat.

"I can only say thanks to my players because they tried but it's not possible - because some of them are really very, very tired," he added.