The first 20 minutes of Ghana’s defeat to bitter rivals Nigeria in an international friendly tournament in London would be forgettable for period Razack Simpson.
A comical attempt by Simpson to clear a cross from Nigeria’s right-back Sodiq Ismail, which Cyriel Dessers—Scottish Premier League top scorer—banged in for the first goal of the night.
The Nations FC captain’s night looked to turn into a nightmare when Semi Ajayi’s header deflected off him past Hearts of Oak’s goalkeeper, Benjamin Asare, in Ghana’s goal to hand the Super Eagles a cushion lead at Brentford FC’s G-Tech Stadium.
Former Ghanaian international and winner of the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, refused to lay blame on Simpson as the Black Stars lost to their West African brothers in a disheartening-yet-promising manner.
“Simpson? What can you do? Apart from the first goal, he felt he needed to go to the ground to clear the ball [Nigeria’s first goal]; anyone can score an own goal. It was rather unfortunate the ball deflected on him for Nigeria’s second goal,” he said on the Sports Pack programme on Max FM.
Agyemang-Badu commended the defender’s display of strong mentality as he grew into the game in the second half, repaying the confidence Ghana’s coach Otto Addo has in him to marshal the defence in the absence of two key defenders, Alexander Djiku and Mohammed Salisu.
“After that, he came into the game strongly because normally you mentally break down when something as such happens to you. He was not down, he came very strongly, partnered, and played very well in the second half, giving some decisive and penetrative passes,” Agyemang-Badu continued.
The performances by the locally based players including Simpson with the exception of Kotoko star Kwame Opoku, who struggled in the minutes he featured for the team, were lauded by Agyemang-Badu.
