Ghana got their African Nations Championship campaign off to a positive start courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Congo at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein this afternoon.
The Black Stars went into the clash as among the favourites to win the competition, despite the fact that tournament rules limit nations to picking players from their own domestic leagues.
Consequently, the likes of Asamoah Gyan, Michael Essien and Kevin-Price Boateng were not present, with midfielders Richard Mpong and Edmund Owusu-Ansah the only members of the Ghana squad who have previous international experience.
The first chance of the match was carved out by Congo's Ngatsongo Obassi in the ninth minute, but having sped beyond the Ghana defence, he failed to keep his effort on target.
That prompted a positive response from Ghana, who went on to break the deadlock in the 34th minute. Theophilus Anobaah was the scorer, seeing his shot from the edge of the area fly into the net via a deflection.
In the closing stages of the first half Ghana defender Tijani Joshua sliced his clearance, but the ball struck his own post before the rebound was fired over the crossbar.
Both teams created chances after the restart, but despite that, no further goals were scored as Ghana held out for all three points. The other two countries in the group - Libya and Ethiopia - play later today.
Liam Apicella
