Ghana boss Ratomir Dujkovic insisted that the absence of a host of key players affected the team’s overall performance and promised the fans better performance in the 2006 World Cup.

“We played the match to win or to hold them to a tie, but luck didn’t play its part with us and we were affected greatly by the absence of three of our key players,” Dujkovic told reporters in a press conference after the match.

Ghana suffered a 2-1 defeat to the less-experienced Zimbabwe and refused to make use of Nigeria’s 2-1 victory over Senegal, which saw them exit the African Cup’s first round.

“We learned from our mistakes in the African Cup and we appear differently in the World Cup because Ghana is a respectable team.

“We have a host of talented players who led the team to a victory over Senegal in the group stage, and I know how the Ghanaian people are affected with our defeat and departure, but I promise them a much stronger Ghana in the World Cup,” Dujkovic added.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe head coach Charles Mhlauri insisted that he played the match to win and proved that by saying that his team dominate the field throughout the match.

Mhlauri blamed the match referee for his team’s departure from the African Cup after cancelling a goal for them and said that the team’s performance developed from one match to the next.