Black Stars skipper, Andre Ayew, has said that Ghana won fairly against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in their 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup Group G final qualifying game played on Sunday at the Cape Coast Stadium.
Ghana emerged group winners and headed into the play-off stage by virtue of superior goal difference after both countries finished on 13 points apiece.
Soon after the game on Sunday, the South Africans protested vehemently over the quality of officiating, arguing that Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette aided Ghana to win.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the South Africa Football Association (SAFA), Tebogo Motlanthe, the defeat to the Black Stars was fixed.
He tweeted on his outfit’s social media handle that SAFAwas gathering information to prove that case.
But reacting to his team’s victory, Ayew, who converted a penalty in the 34 minutes to seal the lone goal victory said at the post-match presser that the Black Stars won it very fair.
“Yes, it was a tough game; they came into the game to stop us. We could have scored more and I think the penalty was not the only one. Jordan Ayew was clipped for a second one, but it was not given.”
According to him, those who doubt the penalty incident should get clips and watch from other angles to judge for themselves.
Ayew, a veteran of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, believes the present Black Stars side has what it takes to make an appearance at next year’s World Cup and would continue to work at securing qualification in the play-offs.
“We have a good squad and a good coach in whom we all believe. We know we can get better with time; we are focused on reaching the finals and together, we will all work hard to achieve the dream.”
His goal against the South Africans on Sunday was his 22nd for the Black Stars in 100 appearances, making him the fifth-highest scorer for Ghana behind Asamoah Gyan on 51, Edward Acquah on 45, Kwasi Owusu on 36, and Karim Abdul Razak on 25 goals.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
