Former Vice President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), George Afriyie, has attributed the Black Stars' 2-0 defeat to Sudan in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers to inadequate preparation and difficulty adapting to the AstroTurf surface in Benghazi.

Ghana’s hopes of qualifying for AFCON took a significant hit after the team’s disappointing loss on Tuesday, marking their fourth winless game in the qualifiers.

Sudan took control of the match in the second half, with Ahmed Hamed Mahmoud breaking the deadlock in the 62nd minute, followed by a goal from Mohammed Abdelrahman just three minutes later.

Ghana, currently sitting in third place in Group F with just two points, now faces an uphill battle to qualify for the tournament.

The team's struggles, particularly in defense, were evident on the unfamiliar playing surface in Libya.

In an interview with JoySports, Afriyie criticized the team's planning and suggested that relocating to Benghazi earlier would have helped the players adjust to the AstroTurf. He noted that the defenders struggled with the surface, leading to costly mistakes.

"Lack of proper planning caused the defeat in the game against Sudan," Afriyie remarked.

"The team should have traveled to Benghazi earlier for recovery sessions on an AstroTurf field, starting from Friday and continuing through the weekend."

Afriyie added, "The two goals we conceded were because our defenders struggled on the AstroTurf, which led to avoidable errors."

Ghana must now win their remaining games against Angola and Niger next month and hope for favorable results elsewhere in the group to have any chance of qualifying for AFCON 2025.