In the World Cup Round of 16 match, Ghana lost 0-1 to Colombia. After the match, Ghana's coach Queiroz attended the press conference.

Could you please summarize this match?

As I expected, it was a very intense and difficult match for both sides. Colombia showed strong pressing and quick pace from the start. We tried to respond and contain the opponent, but unfortunately, we conceded too early. It was a difficult moment, our right-back then left the field due to injury, and the substitute player failed to get into the game immediately. It took some time for the team to adjust and adapt to this personnel change.

And that goal happened precisely when we were trying to re-stabilize our defense. After that, we had to constantly chase the score, while Colombia had better ball control and more precise passing. The players tried their best, we ran a lot and gave our all, but today Colombia performed better overall. They deserve this victory and deserve to advance.

What do you think of Colombia's tactics in this match?

This is exactly how they played in the Copa America. I have to say, the pace and intensity of today's game were very high for us. At the same time, I also admit that the 12th man on site played a significant role. This stadium gave Colombia the home advantage, and the support of the fans gave them an advantage and confidence from the beginning of the match.

In fact, we were prepared for this and knew they would start this way. Before that goal happened, that is, before the opponent's cross and our lapse in marking at the far post and lack of compensatory defense, our defensive work was very good, successfully curbing Colombia's offense and their frequent positional changes.

Until that unexpected event, our tactical execution was perfect. At that time, Snaya was injured, and the team took a few minutes to re-adjust positions on the field. Then that goal came from a cross and our mistake in man-marking in the penalty area. If our defense had been normal in terms of personnel and condition, I firmly believe that goal would never have happened.

But this is part of football, and we are helpless in the face of accidents. Colombia seized that opportunity to score, and in such a single-elimination match, from that moment on, we had to fall into a passive chase.

Then Colombia started to retreat and play possession football, which made it harder for us to regain control of the game. Our performance improved in the second half, creating more threats in attack, but we never truly controlled the game, and opportunities were not converted into goals. Considering that we took risks to score, this naturally gave Colombia more space, allowing them to create more opportunities. Overall, we put in a great effort, but Colombia played better on the field, they were the better side, and they deserved to advance.

This Ghana team has 7 players under 23 years old. What do you hope they learn from this World Cup and gain experience for the 2030 World Cup?

This is a very young team, and we need more experience, and more importantly, we need time to help these players grow. It's good that young players have enthusiasm and drive, but in high-level competitions like the World Cup, passion alone is not enough. Many critical moments require mature judgment. For example, when in possession in midfield, there are times when you shouldn't continue to dribble, shouldn't take too many touches, but should deal with the ball as quickly as possible. If you hesitate in such a game, you will be dispossessed. This happened many times today.

Compared to the threat posed by the individual abilities of Colombian players, what bothers us more are our own problems. We can limit opponents through defensive organization, but it's difficult to deal with our own continuous mistakes. For example, back passes that isolate forwards, misplaced passes in dangerous areas of midfield, and so on.

If you look closely, you will find that most of Colombia's chances came from our turnovers in midfield. But maturity and experience can only be accumulated through playing matches. Young players must constantly participate in high-level competitions to truly grow.

In the final stages of the match when the team was behind, why did you still keep five or six players in the backline instead of committing more players to attack?

We always use a four-man defense system. We want to commit as many players as possible to midfield, but when Colombia has five or six players attacking at the same time, you can't defend with only three, unless you're crazy. Therefore, we must adjust according to the situation on the field.

In the final stage of the second half, we actually pushed our formation very high, putting a lot of pressure on Colombia's backline.

I believe that if we had been able to make higher quality first passes when transitioning from defense to offense, and if we hadn't made those passing errors in critical positions, we could have created more chances, and even scored goals.

Unfortunately, in the most crucial moments of the game, when we should have pushed forward quickly, we lost possession or made dribbling errors.

This is also where Ghana needs to improve the most in the future—the ability of midfielders to handle the ball.

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