We defended poorly against Mexico – Chris Hughton

Following the 2-0 loss in the international friendly at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, Chris Hughton, the manager of the Black Stars, acknowledged that his team struggled to match the intensity displayed by the Mexican side.

The game marked the second friendly for the Black Stars, coming on the heels of their victory over Liberia at the Accra Sports Stadium. Chris Hughton had remained unbeaten in his first five games as Head Coach prior to this defeat.

The Mexican team, managed by Jaime Lozano, had previously registered two draws in matches against Australia and Uzbekistan. They fielded a formidable starting lineup that included notable players like Raul Jimenez from Fulham and former Napoli forward Hirving Lozano.

While the Black Stars had a promising start in the first half, they ultimately couldn’t sustain their momentum and intensity against the Mexican team.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Chris Hughton acknowledged his side came up against a very good Mexican side.

Tough opposition, I thought in the first period we coped well, even though we didn’t create the amount of chances we should have, but i think we had reasonable amout of good control of the game.

So in the first half period, I came in after the half time not too unhappy, i felt perhaps we could have porduced a little more in the final third.

But I think taking everything into account, I thought we did ok in the first half period, the problem was in the second half period where the Mexican team up the tempo, they are very good side and they pressed well, they have very sharp players and we struggled to cope with the intensity of thier game in the second half period.

I thought both the goals we conceded, from our point of view were two poor defensive goals and then it becomes an uphill battle.

Hirving Lozano of PSV Eindhoven found the net in the 57th minute, followed by Antuna’s second goal in the 72nd minute.

Ghana initiated the match with a three-defender formation consisting of Stephan Ambrosius, Nicholas Opoku, and Joseph Aidoo, while the midfield saw Thomas Partey and Elisha Owusu as partners. Leading the attack was Antoine Semenyo, with Mohammed Kudus and Joseph Paintsil on the flanks, and Kingsley Schindler and Gideon Mensah took up the roles of wingbacks.

The final score against Mexico marks the first defeat for Chris Hughton after two victories and two draws in his previous four games, with their most recent win coming against Liberia in an international friendly at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The Black Stars will face the United States of America at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, October 17, 2023.