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GRANT: WIN IS A GOOD OMEN!

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Avram Grant Photo by BackpagePix
Avram Grant Photo by BackpagePix

GHANA coach Avram Grant is hoping for a better Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) this time around after his charges won their opening Group D match on Tuesday.

The Black Stars beat Uganda’s Cranes 1-0 via an Andre Ayew penalty and Grant reckons this could be a good omen for their campaign, as they lost their first match at the 2015 edition in Equatorial Guinea.

“Every game in such competitions is tough and special, like the match against Uganda showed.

“They were not easy targets,” said the 61-year-old ex-Chelsea coach, who has been with Ghana since 2014.

“Uganda know how to cover all the spaces on the pitch.

“But we hope to have a better flowing ball game in the second match (against Mali). We know how they play and will be ready for them.

“It is always important to start with a win in such competitions and then take it from there.

“Our best will come at the right time, especially since the majority of our players are still rusty because they did not play in their respective leagues.

“I am also satisfied with the way we defended the three points against Uganda.”

Grant is happy to have three points in the bag, but the Israeli-born coach still believes they can play better, considering how they dominated the match against the mobile Cranes.

He was excited to see the Ayew brothers Andre and Jordan, who were playing together for the first time in a long while, play a vital role.

Uganda coach Milutin “Micho” Sredejovic, who ended the country’s 39-year Afcon drought by helping them progress to this year’s event, believes they did everything in their ability to get the result against Ghana, finalists in 2015.

He said: “This has been a great lesson for us. We have also showed that we can compete with the best.

“We did well despite the fact that Ghana were finalists at the last Afcon.

“They have been one of the top African football countries since 2008.

“It was a steep learning curve for us.

“We had our own shortcomings too. We are looking at where we can improve on our game. We want to give our best against Egypt.”

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