Ghana U23 manager Ibrahim Tanko has implored the National Sports Authority to improve the pitch at the Accra Sports Stadium insisting it contributed to his side’s 1-1 stalemate with Algeria last Friday.

Ghana drew with Algeria in the first leg of the final qualifiers for the U23 AFCON in Accra, and had to stage a magical performance to win the return leg in Algeria on Tuesday night.

The hard surface of the pitch with the grass eaten off at some parts which looked like an overgrazed surface by starved cattle made playing relatively difficult for the Meteors in the game that yielded a 1-1 score line with the Algerians.

Despite no losing the game in Ghana on Friday, Tanko has blamed the poor state of the pitch for his side’s inability to win over Algeria in the first leg and has called on the NSA to work on the field.

“I’ll appeal to the National Sports Authority to look at the pitch we played on last Friday,” he told footballmadeinghana.com

“A week before we played Algeria, we engaged Tema Youth in a friendly at the Accra Sports Stadium and I saw that the pitch was very bad.

“So I personally called Mr. Frank Boahene to find out when he’s going to work on the pitch since the game was around the corner.

“I was shocked when he told me he had not been contacted to work on the pitch,” Tanko added.

Tanko revealed that his side is done with their game at the venue but the pitch need to be in a good shape for other national teams.

“But other national teams will be using it going forward,” he noted.

“I’m appealing to the NSA to really take this thing serious because it could have cost us if we had failed to qualify.”

The pitch at the stadium in the nation’s capital has turned yellowish in appearance with some parts looking like the birth of a new desert.