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And head coach Chris Hughton was left in shock and disappointed for letting the country down.
Ghana arrived in Côte d'Ivoire for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with the intention of redeeming themselves from their 2021 disappointments, when they failed to make it past the group stages.
However, it was a similarly slow start as the Black Stars adventure got off to a very poor start, with a stunning 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde on Sunday at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny.
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And head coach Chris Hughton was left in shock and disappointed for letting the country down.
"We had an offensive strategy, but we were surprised," Hughton told the press after the defeat.
"It's a bitter defeat for the expectations of the Ghanaian public," he added.
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Cape Verde took a deserved lead in the 17th minutes through Jamiro Monteiro, after the midfielder tapped in a loose ball from goalkeeper, Richard Ofori.
Alexander Djiku got the equalizer for Ghana, 11 minutes into the second half. The defender headed in from a Jordan Ayew ball to draw Ghana level.
With just 6 minutes to end the game, substitute, Garry Rodrigues restored Cape Verde’s lead after e capitalized on a defensive blunder from the Ghanaian defense to tap into an empty net.
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09:01 - 15.01.2024
AFCON 2023: Sadio Mane, Senegal begin title defence with tricky test against regional neighbors
A title defence won't come easy for Senegal as in the history of the competition, only three nations have managed to successfully retain the AFCON title: Egypt (1957, 1959; 2006, 2008, 2010), Ghana (1963, 1965) and Cameroon (2000, 2002).
Cape Verde are now top of Group D with three points., while the Black Stars sit rock-bottom with none.
Ghana will play giants Egypt on Thursday at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny, with hopes of re-finding their mojo.
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In the same group, Muhammad Salah scored a late penalty to help Egypt salvage a 2-2 draw with Mozambique.
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