Another game, another goal conceded.

Only, this was probably more painful than any the Black Stars have conceded recently.
The timing of it.

The fact that it ended a 24-year home record. And the pitch.

Yes, the pitch.

Zito Luvumbo's pass was not goal-bound, nor did it find a teammate. It was heading towards Abdul Mumin until the ball took an awkward bounce a microsecond before Mumin’s contact, resulting in the poor clearance that led to the goal.

As Milson wheeled away in celebration, Seth Panwun, the National Sports Authority (NSA) board chair, feigned anger and disappointment with the rest of us. As if he had not defrauded the nation by promising a quality pitch only to deliver the rubbish playing surface the two teams used.
It is not the fact that the pitch was bad. If you watch enough football matches in Ghana, you would be used to the mediocrity by now.

Over the years, the NSA has made a habit of renting out its stadiums without any pitch covering.
Fans and football teams have seen the impact of this recklessness on these pitches.

Scores of worshippers gathered at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium for the Global Crusade with W.F. Kumuyi

In July, the NSA rented out the Baba Yara Sports Stadium for a week-long religious event. For the entire duration of the event, the football pitch was left uncovered as patrons jumped, danced, and stamped their feet on the playing surface. Not to mention the seats and heavy metal equipment that sat on the grass.

The effect is easy to guess.

The tartan tricks and the pitch were not spared as heavy metal equipment, and all kinds of cars sat upon them

As always, Ghanaians spoke out against it.

On August 22, Seth Panwun assured Ghanaians that the pitch would be ready.
"All hands are on deck to get the pitch [Baba Yara] ready. In a few days, the pitch will be 200% ready for the game [Black Stars vs Angola]." in an interview with the state broadcaster, GTV.

His declaration was a bad joke at best. You see, no mechanism in the world can transform a grassless field into a FIFA or even CAF standard pitch. Not one.
So Seth Panwun was either knowingly deceiving Ghanaians, or he lacks a basic understanding of one of the key areas of his job.

The playing surface, a week after ''regrassing'' following the crusade

So here we are, with a useless pitch to complain about, and a sense of whataboutism, clouding the post-mortem of this match.

Otherwise, Otto Addo and his men would have some questions to answer. A few, at least.

How did Elisha Owusu last as long as he did?
On Wednesday, Otto Addo informed the gathered press that Elisha Owusu was not fit and that he would only be able to play with an injection.
So when the match started, Elisha Owusu's struggles were not surprising. He did not have a bad day, but he was not himself. On another day, he would have been Ghana's ball winner who could also distribute the ball competently.

The Stars left the pitch in disappointment at the interval as they did at half-time

More to the point, Thursday's match needed a deep midfielder of a different profile. Someone who was not afraid to take risks and was press-resistant.
Per Otto Addo's assessment, Angole "tried to press us high up the pitch and we knew they were capable of that. They pressed high and also went man to man. That was very bold."

That explains Ghana's inability to sustain momentum in the second phase of the build-up. Not that it would have guaranteed instant results, but if the Black Stars had another midfielder who could evade the press… someone who could introduce some invention and craft, maybe Angola would not have stayed as compact as they did.

Oh, wait! We did have one. No, two. Ashimeru Majeed and Forson Amankwaah.

Given Amankwaah's inexperience, Otto Addo's inertia towards introducing him to a pressure cooker environment made sense. Perhaps the only reason we did not see Ashimeru Majeed earlier is the fear of injury on the apology of a football pitch. In the end, Otto gambled and brought him on. And the little he did suggest that was a gamble Otto should have taken much earlier.

Overall, it was not a great performance. The structural issues persist but as many have pointed out, the Black Stars have been technically bankrupt for too long to expect Otto Addo to fix it all in a day.
So it will take a while for this team to shed its bad habits.
Milson's stoppage time winner was the 14 goal Ghana has conceded in the last eight matches. The team has also conceded in eight consecutive matches.

That needs to change and Otto Addo knows this.

"We lost today but we have to look at the chances we allowed and not just the goal we conceded. I said it the last time. Defense starts in attack so we need to press, be a bit more compact, and work harder," Otto said in his post-match presser.

As a certain Atsu Tamakloe pointed out last week, Otto Addo has tried to be consistent in his selections.

Thursday was the first time he fielded a different center-back pairing other than the Alexander Djiku and Mohammed Salisu partnership and even then, it was forced by Djiku's injury.

Before Otto, Ghana had fielded seven different center-back partnerships under former coach Chris Hughton in 12 months. That is where Otto's consistency deserves commendation.

Otto Addo suffered his first defeat as substantive Ghana coach against Angola
But what Otto cannot delay in fixing, is the sense of urgency the team plays with. Many watched with disbelief as players strolled to restart the game while Ghana was in desperate need of a goal, with time running out. Free kicks, corner kicks, etc were all affected at a snail's pace. Angola's structure was admirable. That much is true. But they were also smart to use the dark arts to stop Ghana from building momentum. Ultimately, Ghana played into their hands by not playing with any sense of urgency or intensity. That needs to change and fast.

For now, though, focus has to be directed to Morocco where the team will face Niger. As Otoo pointed out, Kwasi Appiah's Sudan may be top of the group, but there is still all to play for.
''The second half makes me very confident. The good thing is that it is still in our hands. We've still got games against all the teams in the group so we just have to do our job. There were a lot of positives to be taken from this, we should've taken our chances.''