{
  "id": 12430389,
  "title": "‘Go back to the drawing board’ – Polo urges Black Stars to find solutions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/go-back-to-the-drawing-board-polo-urges-black-stars-to-find-solutions",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-06T17:12:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/go-back-to-the-drawing-board-polo-urges-black-stars-to-find-solutions/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Black Stars star Mohammed Polo has criticized calls to disqualify Ghana from the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, stating it as \"senseless.\" The Ghana Football Association and former head coach Carlos Queiroz parted ways following two consecutive losses, and fans have demanded a complete withdrawal from the tournament set to be hosted in East Africa. Polo, who won the AFCON with Ghana in 1978, believes the team should focus on finding solutions and improving their technical shortcomings. \"I don’t think [withdrawing from the qualifiers] is the right thing to do. No, that is not the right thing,\" he told CitiSports. \"You’ve been beating some people before. They went back to the drawing board and found solutions. So, if they are now coming to beat you, you should go back to the drawing board and find solutions.\" The current squad's quality differs from two years ago, and Polo emphasized the need for coaches who can add value to the players' abilities. \"We need a technical coach who can help them and add some value to what they have. You need coaches who can add something to what the players have. Now, when the players come, they don’t add anything, so it is only what the players already know that they are playing,\" he added. With two losses, Ghana must secure a win against Somalia in November to avoid missing the AFCON entirely.",
  "summary": "Ghana currently sit bottom of Group C without a point following a disastrous start to their qualifying campaign with a 2–0 opening defeat away to Côte d'Ivoire followed by a humiliating 4–2 loss to Gambia in Accra.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}