{"id":254910,"date":"2024-11-23T04:55:02","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T04:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/23\/heavy-black-stars-jersey-was-weighing-me-down-and-i-had-to-hold-my-nerves-razak-simpson\/"},"modified":"2024-11-23T04:55:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T04:55:02","slug":"heavy-black-stars-jersey-was-weighing-me-down-and-i-had-to-hold-my-nerves-razak-simpson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/23\/heavy-black-stars-jersey-was-weighing-me-down-and-i-had-to-hold-my-nerves-razak-simpson\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Heavy\u2019 Black Stars jersey was weighing me down and I had to hold my nerves \u2013 Razak Simpson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\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\">Nations FC defender Razak Simpson has opened up about his experience with the Black Stars during their recent 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.<\/p>\n<p>Simpson made his debut in the games against Angola and Niger, impressing many with his performances, particularly in the away match against Angola.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking about his time in the Black Stars camp, the 26-year-old said he had to calm himself and focus on doing what he does best on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was there one day and received a foreign call. I answered, and it was Otto Addo. Then he said, &#8216;Congratulations, Razak Simpson, I will call you on Thursday at noon to be a part of the Black Stars.&#8217; After the call, I got down on my knees and thanked God for finally fulfilling my desire,&#8221; he told Akoma FM.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t easy to wear the Black Stars colours. When I wore the shirt, it became heavy on me, but I reminded myself that this is what I chose to do, so I had to put everything else aside and play.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll continue doing what I&#8217;ve been doing in the hopes of improving my performance for a future call-up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for Simpson, his strong performances weren&#8217;t enough to help Ghana secure victories, and the Black Stars ultimately failed to qualify for the AFCON for the first time in 21 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nations FC defender Razak Simpson has opened up about his experience with the Black Stars during their recent 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Simpson made his debut in the games against Angola and Niger, impressing many with his performances, particularly in the away match against Angola. Speaking about his time in the Black Stars [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":254911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254910","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>\u2018Heavy\u2019 Black Stars jersey was weighing me down and I had to hold my nerves \u2013 Razak Simpson - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/23\/heavy-black-stars-jersey-was-weighing-me-down-and-i-had-to-hold-my-nerves-razak-simpson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Heavy\u2019 Black Stars jersey was weighing me down and I had to hold my nerves \u2013 Razak Simpson - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nations FC defender Razak Simpson has opened up about his experience with the Black Stars during their recent 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. 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