Wilberforce Mfum Questions Commitment Of Black Stars Players After AFCON Fiasco
Former Ghana international, Wilberforce Mfum has questioned the commitment of players in the national team after the Black Stars‘ exit from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Black Stars under Milovan Rajevac set an unwanted record in the 2021 ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations by exiting the competition without winning a single game in a group that had Comoros, Gabon, and Morocco.
The four-time Africa champions will now have to wait until 2023 in the search for a fifth AFCON title.
In an interview with Koforidua-based FM, the former Asante Kotoko star indicated that the current Black Stars players are not committed, hence the abysmal performance in recent times.
“Ghana lack committed players because their legs are now insurance for them. Their legs are insurance because when they come and play for the Black Stars, they don’t involve themselves that much. This is because their attention and focus are always on their clubs,” he said.
“During our time, we never slept in a hotel but rather spent our nights at the Accra Sports Stadium, Nsawam CYO park, and Aburi but we were never discouraged. We’ve pampered the players too much and it is about time we put a stop to it.”
Asked if it will be difficult to end the trophy drought, he said, “Unless we collapse the team and recruit new players that will be committed and play their heart out without thinking about money.”
“We have to recruit players and camp them for months because, during our time, we left our wives home to sleep on student beds at the Accra Sports Stadium, we were not discouraged about this, so we fought and win the AFCON in 1963,” he said.