The Black Stars kicked off their 2017 Afcon campaign with a hard fought 1-0 over the Cranes of Uganda in the opening Group D game.

The Stars, winless in their past four competitive fixtures and in somewhat of a slump, managed to scrape off the win against a tireless Ugandan side which refused to be perturbed by going a goal down and fought all game to get back on level pegging.

On this evidence, the Stars have a long way to go to the necessary levels to challenge for the trophy.

Ghana started the game brightly and controlled matters for much of the first half hour, failing to score despite their dominance. The opening goal arrived not long after the half hour mark, after captain Asamoah Gyan was brought down in the box by a Ugandan defender.

With Gyan on a penalty strike, Andre Ayew stepped up to stroke the ball past Uganda’s goalie Dennis Onyango.

That was as good as it got for Ghana, as Uganda took over running the game after. It only got worse in the second half as lethargy set in for our players whilst Uganda fought for the equaliser.

Despite Uganda creating numerous second half chances, Ghana was able to hold on to record the first victory in the group, ahead of Egypt vs Mali which takes place later.

Star man: Andre Ayew was clearly the star of the team, as aside scoring he was on top form all game and really held up the ball well later when he was forced into a centre forward role.

Flop: Asamoah Gyan and Jordan Ayew were non existent and actually detrimental to our play. Unsurprisingly, Grant took both off in the second half.