2021 AFCON: “You can't lecture me about fair play”—Gabon coach goes hard on Ghana

Head Coach of the Panthers of Gabon, Patrice Neveu has called off the bluff of Ghana after his team drew 1-1 with Ghana in the second Group C encounter in the Africa Cup of Nation (AFCON) in Cameroon.

Gabon grabbed a late equalizer courtesy Jim Allevinah's controversial goal to earn a point against the Black Stars in a crucial match played on Friday evening at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé.

Gabon's equalizer was seen as an unfair means to score which resulted into a chaotic scene after the game.

This was when Ghana's defender Andy Yiadom got injured on the pitch and the ball was kicked out by his teammates, but when the game restarted with a throw in, the Gabon players did not play it back to Ghana in a form of replay.

The Panthers rather capitalized on the situation and took Ghana unawares to pull parity.

After the game, the coach of Gabon said the Black Stars does not deserve a Fair Play from his side and that, Ghana can not lecture him about fair means.

“What is fair play? The word fair play is an English word. We don't have this word in French.

“Before you (Ghana) lecture me about Fair Play, you (Ghana) were involved in so many instances that do not show that you were practicing it exactly.”

He said his side saw a golden opportunity and capitalised on it.

“We saw a chance to score and we capitalised on that to equalise. If Ghana wanted fair play, they should have kept playing the ball rather than falling down so easily just to delay the game. They don't deserve any fair play from us.”

The results puts Ghana third on Group C log with one point while Gabon now have four points from two games.

The Black Stars would need to defeat Comoros on Tuesday to stand a chance of progressing to the next stage of the competition.

GNA