Black Princesses head coach Charles Sampson has described Ghana’s 3-0 defeat to Ecuador at the U-20 Women’s World Cup as a “weird” game but believes his players have the character to bounce back.

Ghana endured a disappointing start to their campaign in Poland, suffering a three-goal defeat in their opening Group stage fixture.

Sampson says the result was difficult to explain because several things that normally work for the team failed to come off.

“I will say the first game actually was a weird game, weird in many senses that what we normally do at ease did not work and it can also be so many factors, difficult to pinpoint,” Sampson said.

Despite the result, the coach believes the squad has responded positively and is now focused on the next challenge.

“I can say confidently that the girls have overcome the last game shock and the emotions in it, so now it looks like we are ready to go,” he added.

Sampson says the players were understandably affected by the defeat but insists they have regained their focus.

“The girls were all down, just like myself, in the first game. We have shaken it up now, we are ready to go and redeem ourselves.”

Ghana will face South Korea in their next Group stage game, with the Black Princesses needing a positive result to revive their hopes of progressing in the tournament.