Sports News of Friday, 2 June 2023

Source: footballghana.com

We wanted to make Ghanaians proud - Tariq Lamptey on Black Stars' World Cup performance

The Ghana Black Stars football team The Ghana Black Stars football team

Ghana defender, Tariq Lamptey says the Black Stars were bent on making Ghanaians happy at the 2022 World Cup but it was just not meant to be.

The West African country who were making their fourth Mundial appearance exited the tournament at the group phase after finishing at the bottom of Group H with just a win against South Korea.

Lamptey, who was playing at a major competition for the first time with Ghana says the team was obsessed with doing well in Qatar.

“To be honest, we always tried our best. We worked as hard as possible and we go on the pitch to win. We weren’t able to do that on this occasion but for sure in the future, we are working hard,” the Brighton defender told Joy Sports.

“We believe in ourselves and we have to keep going through challenges because football is never straightforward. There are always ups and downs and you have to be able to ride it. You have to have faith in yourself and faith in the team and that is something that we have”, he added.

The Black Stars are hoping to secure a place at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Ivory Coast and face Madagascar in their penultimate qualifier away from home this month.

Tariq continues to stay out of the squad due to an injury he picked up in the latter part of the season while playing for Brighton and Hove Albion.