Head coach of Ghana's senior women's national team, Kim Lars Bjorkegren, has attributed his side's 2-0 defeat to South Africa at the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations to the reigning champions' superior efficiency in front of goal.
Ghana conceded both goals in the first half of their Group C opener and were unable to recover despite creating promising opportunities.
Speaking after the match, Bjorkegren praised his players' effort and suggested that the game was more evenly contested than the scoreline reflected. "If you are looking at stats, it was a close game and we were actually better sometimes," he said in a post-match interview. "They [South Africa] were a bit cleaner inside the box and we know that they have a couple of good players for sure so good for them." The result sees South Africa begin their title defence with three points while Ghana will need to bounce back quickly to remain in contention for a place in the knockout stages.
The Black Queens will face Mali in their second Group C fixture on Friday, July 11 at 16:00 GMT.