BBC SPORT | Football | Africa | Cup of Nations | Ghana coach blames FA for defeat



Andrew Oryada BBC Sport Online in Kampala

Uganda 1-0 Ghana
Kampala, Sunday

Nations Cup Group 13 table

The Black Stars Yugoslav coach Milan Zivadinovic has said their loss to Uganda was due to a lack of match practice caused by the inaction of the Ghana FA.

Zivadinovic, who before the game said his side would beat the Cranes, said the fault lies firmly with the GFA.

"The Ghana Football Association was so slow in working out friendly matches," he said, "and when I organised some, they failed to help me take the team."

We shall give the Ugandan team hell when we meet next year

Ghana defender Mohammed Hamza

The four-time African Champions were shocked by the result.

They boasted 12 professionals, while Uganda had only Ibrahim Sekajja, who plies his trade in Argentina.

"That is football," said Zivadinovic. "We now have to work very hard for the remaining games."

Return match

The Black Stars' preparations for the game had been far from smooth, with the cancellation of two trips to Europe.

The two-game tour of Turkey was called-off due to travel problems, and a friendly against Yugoslavian side Obilic was also cancelled.

The captains shake hands before Saturday's game
Cranes meet Black Stars
Black Stars defender Mohammed Hamza insists they would still win the group.

" We were not happy about the loss, but we shall give the Ugandan team hell when we meet in Accra next year," he said.

Hamza, Joe Hendricks and George Owu are flying directly to Cairo from Kampala for Asante Kotoko's African Cup Winners quarter-final tie against El Mahalla.

Ghana's line-up:

Sammy Adjei, Kofi Amponsah, Mohammed Hamza (Asampong Charles), John Mensah, Ibrahim Aboul Razak (Edusei Daniel), Addo Otto, Stephen Appiah, Boateng Derek Owusu, Munturi Sulley Ali (Bortey Bernard Dong), Joe Hendricks, Yakubu Abubakari.


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