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The Orlando Pirates shot-stopper said great teams are remembered for winning and not necessarily for playing well.
The Black Stars kicked off the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with a narrow 1-0 victory over Ethiopia at the Cape Coast Stadium.
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Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori
A fortuitous strike from Mubarak Wakaso was enough to earn Ghana all three points and send them top of Group G of the African qualifiers.
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CK Akonnor’s side was, however, not convincing, having laboured in possession and struggled throughout the game.
Several Ghanaians have since criticised the team for its performance, but Ofori believes history doesn’t remember the team that plays well.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Monday’s second qualifying game against South Africa, he said winning is the most important thing.
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Richard Ofori
“One thing I know about the game is that, all the big teams in the world, it’s not about how you play. I’ve never seen any history that Real Madrid or AC Milan played well,” Ofori said.
“It’s a matter of who is winning and who is winning the trophies. That is the most important thing everyone is talking about.
“At the end of the day, we need to win as a nation and as a team, and put any other thing behind us.”
Meanwhile, Ghana coach Akonnor emphasised a similar point, insisting winning was the ultimate goal against Ethiopia.
“We knew our opponents very well. We know they are a team that possesses the ball a lot and we are aware of their threats. Yes, I know we were not as exciting as the fans would want but they also possessed the ball without being a danger to us. They posed no threat to us during the game,” he said.
“What was important was that anytime we had the chance to attack, we did that. Even though we were not clinical enough to score more goals”.
“We were not worried when they were possessing the ball but what we were concerned about was our inability to be clinical upfront. We also lost possession a few times in the midfield as well but the most important thing is that we won and we have the three points and that is all that matters.”