Black Stars can’t win AFCON 2017 - JusticeFMSports Editor

By -
Justice Sports Editor has cast doubts in the Black Stars’ ability to win the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the fifth time in Ghana’s history.
Abubakari Yussif says unlike others who are being nationalistic to say that Ghana’s senior national team can conquer Africa at the 2017 AFCON in Gabon, realistically, the best of the Black Stars will be a semi-final appearance.


“If I am to speak as a Ghanaian, I would say the Black Stars can win but if I am to be realistic, the best for them will be the semi finals. It hurts to say that but that is the truth” he said.
The former Guan United goalie noted that the current crop of players who recently called on the new Ghanaian President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to increase their bonuses are not committed and do not have the nation at heart, a situation he said could affect their performance at the tournament.
“At this crucial moment when they should be thinking of how to win the trophy, the players are rather talking about bonus increment. Our players now see the call to national duty as an avenue to make money” Abubakari Yussif told Justicefm.com in an exclusive interview.
The four time African champions have reached at least the semi-final stages of the competition in the past five editions, including the painful penalty shootout lost to the Ivory Coast at the Finals of the last edition in Equatorial Guinea.
Many including the Moroccan coach, Hervé Renard who was the coach of the Ivorian side that beat Ghana to win the trophy at the last edition have said that with the current crop of players, Ghana can win this year’s edition which begins on the 14th of January.
But Yussif said Ghana cannot win the tournament if they don’t change their attitude and improve on their performance.
“I don’t think Ghana can win the trophy, our performance has been abysmal of late and our players are not even getting play time at the various clubs but with a change in attitude and improved performance during training sessions, our chances of winning might just improve” he said
He explained that “our best players, Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan get little playing time at their teams now, they don’t get playing time there, apart from Christian Atsu, Jordan Ayew and Daniel Amartey who are playing regularly for their clubs, the rest of our players are not used too often by their clubs”.
Yussif who himself was once invited to the Black Satellites as a goalkeeper said unlike the Ghanaian side, most of the participating countries have had their players improve in the past two years, playing regularly at club levels.
He also believes the presence of Cote d’Ivoire, winners of the last AFCON and Egypt who recently showed dominance over Ghana during  their World Cup qualifier in Egypt late 2016 poses a threat to Ghana’s success.
“Remember that Cote d’Ivoire who beat us at the last tournament to win the trophy are in again, this time with an improved side. Don’t forget Egypt are there too with a very strong side which has already beaten Ghana in recent times”  Yussif noted.
The Black Stars of Ghana are in Group D with Egypt, Uganda and Mali and will kick start their campaign on January 17 when they come up against Uganda.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

International Ghanaian Model Victoria Michaels

By -
Image
Born into the blissful world of beauty   International Ghanaian Model Victoria Michaels i s good at what she does,  She backs all these achievements with a solid academic background in Business Management and Communication as she holds a Diploma in Communication Studies from the Ghana Institute of Journalism and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Central University Ghana. A communicator per excellence, she leverages on a multifaceted experience gained from practice in PR, Marketing/Brand Communication, and Banking , Victoria has used her management skills to run the successful VM Consult, a company she founded a few years ago. Victoria began her career at the age of 19 when she won as a first Runner up for the Miss Francophone Ghana Beauty Pageant. Participated as a runway model in AU Summit GOLD Show, BBC Fashion Show, Dubai Fashion Week,Africa Fashion Week London and Nigeria, FAME Nigeria, FIMA International Fashion Show, Dark & Lovely Fashion Show...
Read more

11 Ghanaian Tamale Base Musicians Who Deserve Attention

By -
Image
Northern region capital has seen tremendous growth in its music scene this year, one can boldly say the music scene has grown faster this year than expected. Fancy Gadam and Maccasio have been the talk about artiste over the past few months, both artiste have the largest fan base in the region, which of cause over shadows some classic, talented and mind blowing artiste in the region.  These artiste are facing the hype over talent virus, Sanatu Zambang might not have the resources to cure this epidemic, but we sure can do our research and share with the public our findings. Our list also considers the impact these artiste have made throughout 2016.  Here are the TOP 11 artiste from the northern region, Tamale. Some of these struggling artiste have managed to achieve local recognition, whiles the others have had worldwide recognition without a huge fan based and with less airtime on radio and television. One can’t imagine the kind of...
Read more

Professor Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg on PORK Biological Therapy

By -
Image
In World War II, soldiers in North Africa were taken ill in ever increasing numbers. They were suffering from abscesses of the lower part of the leg called “tropical ulcers”. These ulcerations left the soldiers unfit to fight and necessitated lengthy hospital confinement, often requiring their removal to more temperate climates. Every possible form of treatment as well as chemical therapy was exhausted without positive results. It was then suggested that these leg ulcers could possibly be connected with the soldiers’ eating habits, as the natives showed no signs of this disease. Rations to the soldiers were then based on a diet free from pork, much like that eaten by the Islamic population. This resulted in the immediate relief of the leg ulcer syndrome. During the lean years of the war and especially those after the war, the health of the population was, practically speaking, good. Few people could ...
Read more