2023 Africa Cup of Nations: We need to do more – Ghana defender Alexander Djiku after defeat to Cape Verde

Published on: 15 January 2024

Ghana defender Alexander Djiku says his outfit must do more in order to progress to the next stage of the competition after succumbing to defeat in 2023 Africa Cup of Nations opener against Cape Verde.

Djiku, who plies his trade for Fenerbache in Turkey emerged as the Man of the Match following his outstanding performance for the Black Stars despite defeat.

The former Strasbourg marksman was rock-solid at the back for Ghana in their 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde on Sunday night.

Cape Verde opened the scoring after 17 minutes through Jamiro Monteiro, who easily tapped in a rebound after Richard Ofori parried a long shot before the Black Stars level the pegging through Fenerbache defender Alexander Djiku.

However, comical defending led to Cape Verde scoring a late winner through Garry Rodrigues.

“We need to do more. We need to be more aggressive, we need to press more and then, we need to score also. We have lost this game and we need to win our second game” he said after the game.

With the upcoming crucial match against Egypt on Thursday, the Black Stars face the risk of an early exit, reminiscent of the previous edition of the tournament.