Former Ghana Football Association president and leader of the delegation of the Black Stars in the 1992 Africa Cup of Nation, Awuah Nyamekye has downplayed assertions that captain row led to Ghana’s defeat in the final against Ivory Coast.
According to him, the Black Stars inability to lift the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations trophy is not as a result of a change in captaincy but rather hard luck.
Ghana’s hope of winning their fifth African Cup was dashed after losing 11-10 on penalties against Ivory Coast.
A session of the players that participated in the tournament in Senegal including Tony Yeboah and Sarfo Gyamfi attributed their defeat in the final to captaincy rift.
Abedi Pele and Anthony Yeboah have been widely reported to have fallen out over a captaincy row prior to the defeat against the Elephants.
Yeboah, who was deputy to the Olympique Marseille icon, was sidestepped after the armband was handed to the relatively new player Anthony Baffoe in the final.
There have been widespread claims that the decision to hand the leadership role to Baffoe cost the team the title as it sparked division in the team.
But Awuah Nyamekye, the then Ghana FA President in an interview with Don Summer of Angel FM took a swipe against those attributing their defeat in the final to captaincy row.
“I don’t think issues regarding the captain’s armband affected us in the final. I mean we played perfectly well. Even Tony Yeboah hit the post on one or two occasions”
“I think we lost the game due to hard luck,” he said.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Sylvester Ntim
