Ghana captain Andre Ayew has taken the full responsibility after the west African side bowed out of the African Cup of Nations at the round of 16 stage. The Black Stars had gone into the tournament with a view to ending their trophy drought which has extended for 32 years but they failed to do so after a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Tunisia.
Speaking after the game, Ayew acknowledged that he is disappointed from the outcome of the match and takes the responsibility for the country’s exit. He added that the players can take heart from the good characteristics of their performances and come back stronger for the forthcoming round of internationals.
Ghana international Andre Ayew has said that he is determined to win the African Cup of Nations with the national side in the summer. The West African nation have not won the silverware since 1982 but they have made progress to the final of the competition in the 2010 and 2015 editions in Angola and Equatorial Guinea respectively.
Speaking to Footy Ghana, Ayew acknowledged that the players and country are keen on winning the African Cup of nations and he is optimistic of doing so at the summer tournament in Egypt, he said: “Everybody wants the trophy; the players want the trophy, the country wants it. I think we are going to do everything we can. But the Afcon is far; [from] now, there is time.
Ghana assistant manager Ibrahim Tanko has refuted suggestions that Jordan Ayew and Andre Ayew have been problematic and a bad influence on the squad. Both players have been missing from the Ghana squad for the last 12 months and it is down to a poor disciplinary record. It is reported that both players have created a lot of problems for managerKwesi Appiah, as they are frequently found guilty of not adhering to the camp rules.Tanko has dismissed those reports and has claimed that both players should be back into the national team fold very soon.
Both players possess a lot of quality and it is extremely difficult for a small nation like Ghana, who are just trying to find their feet in world football, to cope without such players. Even though Ghana have been on a strong set of results over the last year, the team recently fell to a loss against Kenya in the African Cup of Nations qualifier. The setback raises concerns about Ghana’s ability to reach the finals. Ghana have also been struggling in terms of scoring goals with the team not managing more than 2.5 goals since beating Congo back in September 2017.
West Ham United manager David Moyes has stressed that it was the right decision to sell Andre Ayew back to Swansea City despite the forward starring for the Welsh outfit last weekend. The Ghana international returned to the Liberty Stadium after an unfruitful 18-month spell at the London Stadium, and he has since found his mojo.
Writing in his column on Evening Standard, Moyes feels it was the right choice to sanction Ayew’s sale in January, as the attacker was not fully focused on the job at hand with the Hammers.He said: “Andre Ayew did well enough for Swansea but don’t forget that he didn’t want to stay. At the time we weren’t that keen to lose anyone to our competitors but he made it 100 per cent clear he did not want to be at West Ham any longer.”
