Kickoff Ghana (Cape Town)
15 June 2008
Ghana were pegged back by an impressive Gabon side in the joint 2010 African and World Cup qualifiers with the Azingo National Stadium running away 2-0 winners in Libreville.
A goal in each half by Eric Mouloungui and Stephane Nguema gave Gabon a well deserved win and left interim Ghana coach Sellas Tetteh facing many questions that the side will be required to answer when they host the Gabonese next Sunday in Accra.
It was the Black Stars' worst display in many years and their first defeat since Burkina Faso's win in September 2004 in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers but they still have six points from the first three games with the Gabonese getting their first three.
After initial promise when Prince Tagoe fed Essien one-on-one with the Gabonese goalkeeper, Ghana fizzled out before poor defending by the otherwise reliable John Mensah led to the opener.
He failed to clear a long ball from midfield and when it fell for Mouloungui, the Strassburg man made no mistake with a fine lefted volley to Richard Kingson's left on 44 minutes.
Ten minutes into the second half the Gabonese had a second despite Ghana shoring up the defence with the inclusion of Francis Dickoh for an injured Eric Addo.
The Black Stars attempted to play the offside trap but it was poorly done and Mouloumgui turned provider, crossing for the tireless Nguema to finish inside the six-yard box.
The goal rocked Ghana and a unit that had looked well knit and strong in previous games was looking fragile all of a sudden. A lot of the inquest into the loss will also focus on some of the decisions that Tetteh made.
He preferred Eric Bekoe upfront to Junior Agogo who had spent much of the week tieing up a move to Zamalek but the Kotoko striker struggled on his first senior start.
And when the Stars needed some spark, Tetteh opted to throw on the more conservative Haminu Dramani instead of Quincy Owusu-Abeyie's terrific pace and dribbling.
When Laryea Kingston was taken off midway through the second half, he reacted angrily, kicking out at a chair in front of Ghana bench.
It was the lowest point of a miserable afternoon for the Black Stars for whom big name players Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien never really came to the party.
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