Black Meteors coach Ibrahim Tanko leaps to Afriyie Barnieh’s defense after ‘drab’ performance in Algeria win

Ibrahim Tanko, the coach of Ghana’s U23 team, has come out in support of Daniel Afriyie Barnieh despite his poor performance in the recent match against Algeria.

Although Barnieh missed several scoring opportunities during the game, Ghana was able to secure qualification for the Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Morocco later this year.

Tanko defended Barnieh by pointing out that his overall play was good and that it was unfair to judge him based on one game. Additionally, he noted that Barnieh is a new addition to the European football scene and needs time to adjust.

“I think Barnieh did well though. He spoiled a lot of chances but his general play was good. You can’t just use one game to kill a player, he just moved to Europe. I’m sure he will settle well at his club before the tournament,” Ibrahim Tanko shared

Ghana is aiming to break its Olympic Games qualification drought, which has persisted since 2004, at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.