Sports Minister Kofi Adams has attributed Ghana’s World Cup struggles to the advantage enjoyed by opponents who had spent years building stable teams and developing strong partnerships among players.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, he said Ghana competed against teams with deeper preparation, stronger coordination and players who had built understanding over several years.

He explained that some teams arrived at the tournament with players who had spent significant time playing together at club and national levels.

“Where you are coming against teams that possibly have had opportunity to prepare very well and to prepare with managements that have been with them for quite a longer time, a team that may have players that have played in the same club, maybe about four or five of them coming together and having played together for a very long time,” he said.

Mr Adams said that level of familiarity helped opponents coordinate better across the pitch.

“Any team that may have all its facets, whether it is his defence, his midfield, or the upfront, the trust upfront being so solid and so coordinated, and they understood each other,” he explained.

He said Ghana struggled to match the level of understanding displayed by some teams, where players instinctively knew each other’s movements.

“Sometimes, when one player picks a ball and is moving, you can see two, three other players moving into the space that he can lob the ball into them for them to take advantage of; we didn’t seem to have that character,” he stated.

Despite the challenges, Mr Adams highlighted Ghana’s opening victory over Panama as a key moment, saying the result showed the team could compete against highly motivated opponents.

“When we came against England after winning against Panama, which also thought that if they were going to pick any three points in the group, it was going to be against Ghana, and we defeated them,” he said.

He added that Ghana’s first match was difficult because Panama also entered the game believing they could secure maximum points.

“They thought you could surprise us. We were lucky; we got the three points fully from that game,” he said.

Mr Adams also praised Ghana’s performance against England, insisting the Black Stars showed quality and frustrated one of the tournament favourites.

“We came against England, and we showed a certain class and blocked all their movement,” he said.

“Whether it was hurricane or sugar cane or whatever it was, we blocked all their movement,” he added.

The Sports Minister also referenced controversial moments from the match, saying many observers believed Ghana deserved better decisions from officials.

“Clearly, it was a game that many thought that Ghana was cheated,” he said.

He added that Ghana had appeals for a penalty and a possible red card incident that were not awarded.

“That we had a clear penalty that was not given to us, and there was a situation that another player of the English class should have been shown a red card, which was not done,” he said.

Mr Adams maintained that Ghana’s World Cup experience reflected the importance of long-term planning, preparation and team development.