{"id":253710,"date":"2024-11-21T05:12:10","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T05:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/coach-j-e-sarpong-compares-black-stars-to-division-two-club-after-afcon-qualifier-disaster\/"},"modified":"2024-11-21T05:12:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T05:12:10","slug":"coach-j-e-sarpong-compares-black-stars-to-division-two-club-after-afcon-qualifier-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/coach-j-e-sarpong-compares-black-stars-to-division-two-club-after-afcon-qualifier-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Coach J.E. Sarpong compares Black Stars to division two club after AFCON qualifier disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanaweb.com\/imagelib\/pics\/256\/25670190.295.jpg\" alt=\"Veteran football coach J.E. Sarpong\" title=\"Veteran football coach J.E. Sarpong\" width=\"295\" height=\"164\" \/> <span class=\"image_caption\"><span>Veteran football coach J.E. Sarpong<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"-webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none;\">\n<p id=\"article-123\">Veteran football coach J.E. Sarpong has criticized the Black Stars of Ghana, comparing them to a division two club following their disappointing performance in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time in 20 years, Ghana failed to secure a spot in the tournament, finishing at the bottom of Group F with just three points from a possible 18.<\/p>\n<p>Under Coach Otto Addo, the Black Stars have endured a series of historic low points.<\/p>\n<p>Ghana lost a game at Baba Yara Stadium for the first time in 24 years, missed AFCON qualification after two decades, and failed to win a single group-phase match in the qualifiers.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Ghana failed to secure a home victory in an AFCON qualifier for the first time in history, suffered a shock loss to Niger on home soil, and finished last in their group for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on Accra FM\u2019s Accra Sports Show hosted by Paa Kwesi, Coach Sarpong did not hold back in his critique.<\/p>\n<p>He commended local player Razak Simpson for displaying passion and commitment but expressed disappointment in the team\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would mention Razak Simpson as the player who showed the spirit of \u2018die for your nation,\u2019 just like our time when the likes of Armah Senegal, Kwesi Appiah, and Kofi Ampiah played with pride and urgency.<\/p>\n<p>But now, the Black Stars are like any ordinary Division Two club, playing with no sense of urgency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Veteran football coach J.E. Sarpong Veteran football coach J.E. Sarpong has criticized the Black Stars of Ghana, comparing them to a division two club following their disappointing performance in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers. For the first time in 20 years, Ghana failed to secure a spot in the tournament, finishing at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Coach J.E. 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For the first time in 20 years, Ghana failed to secure a spot in the tournament, finishing at [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/coach-j-e-sarpong-compares-black-stars-to-division-two-club-after-afcon-qualifier-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-21T05:12:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/25670190.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/coach-j-e-sarpong-compares-black-stars-to-division-two-club-after-afcon-qualifier-disaster\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/coach-j-e-sarpong-compares-black-stars-to-division-two-club-after-afcon-qualifier-disaster\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"Coach J.E. 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