Winger Christian Atsu has disclosed that he did not quit the Black Stars but decided to stay away just to concentrate on his club career after agreeing with coach Charles Akonnor.
The winger had struggled to break into the Newcastle United first team last season and felt he had to fight for playing time with the English side but couldn’t succeed in that.
According to the 29-year-old, he explained his situation to Black Stars coach Charles Akonnor, who agreed with his decision.
“Coach came to my place in Newcastle United, I spoke with him, we made a decision and this is it,” he told 3Sports.
“So it’s not like I told the national team I was not going to play again, there is nothing like that.
“It’s the journalist who are trying to bring up stories for Ghanaians to maybe be mad about someone or be crazy, but it doesn’t matter, what’s most important is family.
The winger, who is expected to light up the Saudi Arabia top-flight league, said the Black Stars players are fully committed to serving the country despite claims to the contrary by the media.
“Now, listen, we the footballers, right, it is a great honour for us to play for the national team. The way the journalist portray the image of the Black Stars in the media is very bad and this is not good for the players and also the country,” Atsu said.
“So for me I will be honoured. When I’m fit and I am playing and I deserve to be called into the Black Stars, I will be honoured to come and play.”