Sports News of Tuesday, 11 April 2023
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2023-04-11Stephen Appiah 'regrets' wasting money to revive uninteresting Black Stars
Former Black Stars skipper, Stephen Appiah
Former Black Stars skipper, Stephen Appiah, has said he sometimes questions himself for spending his money on uninteresting Black Stars in the past.
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Appiah revealed in an interview with Sompa Sports that, at some point, he had to pay for the players' plane tickets because they found the Black Stars unexciting.
The ex-Juventus player, who is eager to assist the Black Stars in regaining their competitive status but has been hesitant due to unknown reasons, stated that he once paid winning bonuses to players after games.
"One thing that is painful is that, some of us we are very humble. But when you know your value, you don't want to do certain things or mingle with certain people. We all want to help because we have helped before even if it wasn't enough," he said
"There was a time everybody(players) had no interest in playing for Black Stars. There was a time I had to pay for players' plane tickets to Ghana and there was a time I paid winning bonuses," he added.
The 42-year-old, who is not impressed with how the team is run currently, implied that he regrets spending his money on the team, but hopes things will get better.
"So today if I see how things are been done, I ask myself why did I waste my money? But we hope that one day it will be well."
Stephen Appiah led Ghana to their first World Cup in 2006. The Black Stars finished the tournament as the only African country to advance from their group.
After missing two Africa Cup of Nations, Appiah returned to the team for the 2010 World Cup and helped them make history by reaching the quarter-finals, becoming the third African team to do so.
He announced his retirement after the tournament.
Ghana is now ranked eleventh in Africa and fifty-third in the world, having previously been ranked second in Africa and twenty-third in the world before Stephen Appiah's retirement.
The Black Stars have failed to advance from the group stage in both of their last two World Cup appearances, and their best finish in the last two AFCON tournaments was a round-16 finish in 2019.
EE/OGB
