Laryea Kingston Unimpressed with Starlet Showpiece against Ivory Coast

The head coach of the Black Starlets, Laryea Kingston has expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance put up by the team against Cote d’Ivoire in the WAFU Zone B U17 Championship opener.

This is despite Ghana’s 5-1 win at the University of Ghana Stadium on Wednesday.

The Starlets put two past the Ivorians in the first half and added three more in the second half. Despite getting a consolation eventually, the damage was already done.

Speaking to the press after the game, Laryea said the performance of the team was unimpressive as they failed to dominate in the game.

“Throughout this preparation, every team that we’ve played, we’ve dominated play. [In] our last tournament in Russia, we lost against Russia. First 15 minutes we were down 3-0 but we dominated the play. Against Serbia, we dominated play, against Kazakhstan, we dominated play. [In] our friendly game against Niger, we dominated play as well,” said Kingston after the game.

“Today’s game, different opponent. Like I said, thumbs up to the Ivorians; they are a very good side. Of course, most of my boys, [this is the] first time playing such a competition on home soil. I felt they were a little bit jittery. So with that, we had to manage and then try to take something out and try to do our best. For me as a technical person, I’m not satisfied with the way we played”

The Black Starlets will face Benin in the last group game on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at the University of Ghana Stadium.

The tournament is also the qualifier for the U17 AFCON to be played next year.