Jordan and Andre Ayew were on target for Ghana Black Stars as they shared spoils with Benin in their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations opener in Ismailia.

Benin scored the first goal in the 2nd minute through Pote who dazzled through the Ghana defence to poke home the opener.



Ghana captain Andre Ayew restored parity just eight minutes later after his shot found the bottom corner to put Ghana back in the game.

Jordan Ayew scored just a few minutes before the break to put Ghana in front, the striker benefited from a mistake made by the Benin defender to find the top corner.



Ghana were in front after the first forty-five minutes of the game.

Ghana suffered a setback when John Boye was shown a second yellow for time wasting thereby forcing Ghana to continue the game with only ten men.

Pote equalized for Benin in the 63rd minute with a great finish.

Both teams tried to go in front but couldn’t as the game ended in a draw.

Present at the press conference was Coach Kwesi Appiah and captain Andre Dede Ayew. A host of issues were discussed which has been outlined below.

On expectations And Reception since arriving in Egypt, Kwasi Appiah said: “Since we arrived everything has been going well, I believe tomorrow’s game will be very competitive and we are fully prepared”.

On his thoughts about the tournament so far, captain Andre Ayew said: “Is been a great competition and all the teams have shown their quality and every team deserves to be here so we are fully prepared ”

Kwasi Appiah also expressed his confidence in his side saying: ” Modern football has changed and there is no way you can underrate any team and every team is pushing, but I believe in my players, I have full confidence in them and I know they will deliver”

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“All the teams in our group are strong but the most important thing is preparing well to face them and that’s what we have done”

The coach also dodged all questions concerning the captaincy issues that sought to cause a division in the Black Stars camp saying: “I thought we were talking about Benin, Captaincy is nothing, we had peaceful preparations and for me, our preparations for me was the best”

On issues with goal scoring especially during the friendlies, coach Kwasi Appiah downplayed it saying: “The scoreline in our two trial games not that important, the most important thing is what have you done after, we have worked on that and hopefully, we will see some goals,”

Pictures: Ghana Black Stars begin training sessions ahead of 2019 AFCON

Finally captain Andre Ayew who is making a return to the town he led the Ghana U20 side to world cup glory saying: “Things have changed and 10 years ago is 10 years ago but I am happy to be back here and hope we are able to do something, we have prepared well and I think we can do greater things here”

The Black Stars will be looking to end their 37-year AFCON trophy drought when they take on the Squirrels of Benin at the Ismailia Stadium on Tuesday 20:00GMT.