Former Ghana assistant coach George Boateng says it was difficult to deal with the fact that Ghana did not progress out of the group stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

The former Dutch international was saying this after appearing as a guest for the final match on Sky Sports between host nation Ivory Coast and Nigeria on Sunday, with the Ivorians winning 2-1.

Boateng said, “It was difficult to deal with the fact that you didn’t progress to the next stage but it’s football.

“All you can do as a coaching staff is accept responsibility for it, evaluate what went wrong together with the FA and players to help ourselves to make sure that next time when we do get another opportunity, we learn from it.”

Ghana missed out on a place in the Round of 16 after finishing third in a group consisting of Cape Verde, Egypt and Mozambique.

The Black Stars lost 2-1 to Cape Verde before back to back 2-2 draws against Egypt and Mozambique confirmed Ghana’s elimination from the tournament.

The Black Stars, for the second successive tournament, exited at the group stages without registering a win, extending the country's wait for its fifth AFCON title to 42 years.