Abubakari Damba blames himself for Ghana’s failure to qualify for 1994 World Cup

Ghana was on the verge of qualifying for what would have been its first World Cup appearance in history when Algeria snatched the slot from the Black Stars.

Ghana was in the same group as Algeria and Burundi and needed either a win or a draw against Algeria in the final group match to advance from the group to the playoffs.

C.K Akonnor scored the first goal in the match for the Black Stars, but the Algerians came from a goal down to beat Ghana 2-1 in the match following Ghana’s poor goalkeeping and defending.

29 years after the match, Damba, who was in post for the Black Stars in the match, says he is still saddened by his abysmal performance in the match.

“As the goalkeeper who was supposed to save the team and a I had such an abysmal, poor performance, unexpected and uncharacteristic of me, I was the most disappointed."

According to him, the team failed to perform as a result of overconfidence in beating an Algerian side with average players.

“Our hopes were so high, we knew we were going to qualify for the World Cup and sometimes overconfidence can lead to some of these things,” he told TV3.

JNA/BOG