Sports Minister Kofi Adams says Ghana’s performance against England at the World Cup demonstrated the quality of the Black Stars.

He insists the team matched one of the tournament’s strongest sides despite difficult circumstances.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, the Minister said Ghana entered the tournament at a disadvantage because many competing nations had enjoyed longer preparation periods and greater familiarity among their players.

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

He said Ghana lacked that same level of cohesion.

“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.”

Despite those challenges, the Minister said Ghana proved its quality during the tournament.

He recalled that Panama had viewed Ghana as the team it stood the best chance of beating in the group.

“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.”

The Minister said Ghana then produced one of its best performances against England.

“We came against England, and we showed a certain class and blocked all their movement. Whether it was hurricane or sugar cane or whatever it was, we blocked all their movement.”

He argued that many observers believed Ghana had been denied crucial decisions during the match.

“Clearly, it was a game that many thought that Ghana was cheated. That we had a clear penalty that was not given us, and there was a situation that another player of the English class should have been shown a red card, which was not done, and so people felt that we were cheated in that game.”