Ghana U20 coach Maxwell Konadu praised the resilience of his Black Satellites side after they recovered from an early red card to draw 1-1 with Burkina Faso in their second Group B match at the 2026 WAFU B U-20 Championship.
Ghana played for much of the match with 10 men, forcing Konadu and his coaching staff to alter their original approach. Despite that setback, the Black Satellites fought back to secure a point and created enough chances to believe they could have taken all three.
Konadu said the dismissal disrupted Ghana’s plans, particularly because it came in the early stages of the contest and required players to take up unfamiliar roles.
“It was a very difficult match. We had a red card in the early minutes of the game, which distracted us a bit because then we had to make changes and shift players to unusual positions,” he said.
The former Asante Kotoko coach responded by changing Ghana’s formation from 4-3-3 to a 3-5-1 system. He believed the adjustment helped his team control significant periods of the game, despite their numerical disadvantage.
“We changed the system, and that created a lot of scoring opportunities for us. Our strikers did everything possible, and the midfielders worked extremely hard, but the second goal just couldn’t come.”
Ghana’s equaliser came through Joseph Badu after Burkina Faso had taken the lead. Konadu felt the goal arrived during a period when his side were in the ascendancy and that they should have gone on to complete the comeback.
“We equalised when we were on top of the game, and that was when we should have killed the game. But we were unlucky. The boys played so well. We were just unlucky.”
Although Ghana were unable to turn their pressure into a winning goal, Konadu was satisfied with the attitude shown by his players after the red card. He said their performance demonstrated the determination within the squad.
“They did so well, even with the man down. I’m proud of the boys. We couldn’t win, but we will keep fighting.”
The Black Satellites will now prepare for their final Group B match against Togo. Konadu said Ghana had accepted the draw but would approach the closing game with the aim of securing victory.
“We have accepted the result. We will try to beat Togo and see what happens. We want to win at least one game before we leave here.”
