Sports News of Thursday, 21 March 2019
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
2019-03-21
Ghana deputy captain, Dede Ayew
Ghana deputy captain, Dede Ayew, has revealed that if there is anytime the Black Stars need the African Cup of Nations(AFCON) silverware then, it is this year.
The Black Stars have gone past three decades without the continental trophy; reaching the finals three times-Senegal, Angola and Equatorial Guinea since the last time it won the competition in 1982 in Libya.
That has raised concerns among the football populace, and to the Fernabahce man, the playing body are worried and concerned about the national ‘predicament’.
On Tuesday, the team began preparations for their last AFCON qualifier against their Kenyan counterparts at the Accra Stadium.
And after minutes of recovery training session, Dede Ayew admitted how important winning the biennial tourney to the team and the nation as a whole, is.
He mentioned that the increase of the participating countries to 24 makes it more difficult, but expressed the hope that if things are done properly, the team’s dream of breaking the trophy drought would be achieved.
Dede told the media after last Tuesday’s training that “It will be my fifth AFCON so I know how difficult it is to even qualify from the Group stage. The country needs the trophy, we need it as well; it has become harder winning it because the teams are now 24.
“Notwithstanding that, we will employ every tactics to make this dream a reality; we will maintain the unity and give our best shot.”
The Stars continued their training program yesterday and would be hosting the Harambee Stars this Saturday in Accra in a mere academic exercise, having qualified already alongside the Kenyans for the finals in Egypt this June.
