Former captain, Stephen Appiah says failure to lead the Black Stars to win the Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] remains his biggest regret despite leading the side to secure a World Cup qualification.
Mr. Appiah led the senior national team as a captain for almost a decade and remains one of the best.
He led Black Stars to secure its maiden Mundial qualification in 2006 in Germany.
Mr. Appiah also featured in multiple Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournaments but never got to lay hands on the trophy. His closest was when Ghana placed third in 2008.
Speaking about his time with the Black Stars, the former Juventus ace said he was proud to captain the team to the World Cup but would have loved to win a trophy.
“I wish I won a trophy because saying Stephen Appiah captained us to the World Cup is not enough. I wish I won something that I can boast about,” he said on Sompa FM.
“But at the end of the day, players like Ryan Giggs won every trophy in football but never played at the World Cup because that is the ultimate and everyone wants to be there. I’m not saying we should have won the World Cup but we played a couple of African Cups and couldn’t win as well” Mr. Appiah said.
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He also added that, although he could not win the AFCON, he is rooting for the current generation of players to win it.
“We will be there and support our brothers who are playing today. We will motivate them because, at the end of the day, we are all Ghanaians. Although we couldn’t win one, it doesn’t mean we have to be against them winning,” Appiah added.
The former Black Stars captain also led the side to book a qualification in the 2010 World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
Appiah made his Black Stars debut on his 16th birthday He made his debut when Ghana played Benin in a four-nations tournament in Cotonou. He replaced then-skipper Abedi Pele in the 80th minute after Ghana had taken a commanding 2–0 lead.
He made a total appearance of 64 and scored 14 times for the Black Stars.
