Ghana midfielder Samuel Owusu has blamed poor pitch for his underwhelming impact in the Black Stars 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday.

The NK Cukaricki enforcer was one of the surprising starters in the Black Stars squad against Guinea-Bissau in the final Group F encounter at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.

Despite being touted as one of the team’s brightest spots following a superb cameo in the 2-2 stalemate against Benin in the opening fixture, Owusu failed to live up to the billing as the Black Stars defeated Guinea-Bissau to book a place in the round of 16.

The 23-year-old in an interview with reporters after the match ascribed his below-par display to the Suez Stadium pitch.

“The pitch wasn’t good. There’s no water on it so it was difficult for me to control the ball but I tried my best to help the team and the most important thing is to win the game and qualify and we’ve done just that.”

Owusu was asked if Ghana are fired up to take the tournament by storm in the knockout stage, he said, “Yeah. The beginning of the tournament was tough but we did our best and the teamwork is there so we’ll encourage ourselves to win our next game.”

Ghana is billed to lock horns against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in the round of 16 on Monday, July 8.