Ghana left-back Baba Rahman has conceded that the Black Stars suffered in the first half of their 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in the final game of Group F at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday.

The four-time Africa champions needed two second-half goals from Jordan Ayew and Thomas Partey to progress to the round of 16 of the competition.

Many have lamented on the team’s poor first-half performance as Guinea-Bissau nearly broke the deadlock - only for fantastic goalkeeping from Richard Ofori and the woodwork to come to their rescue.

Rahman was quizzed on the reasons behind their slow start to the game.

“I think we started slowly but we grew into the game and brought some urgency in the second half and we won,” Rahman told reporters after the match.

Kwesi Appiah’s charges now face the Carthage Eagles who qualified for the knockout round after finishing second in Group E.

The North Africa giants drew all their three group matches.

The game will be a repeat of the 2012 edition in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea where the Black Stars beat them 2-1 courtesy goals from John Mensah and Andre Ayew.

The match is scheduled to come off on Monday, July 8, at Ismailia Stadium.