Former Black Stars players, Laryea Kingston and Stephen Appiah have criticized the performance of the Black Star players at the just ended African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Black Stars were defeated by a lone goal in the third place match against Burkina Faso.
After Alain Traore scored a late free-kick, the Black Stars missed out on their third bronze medal in four years (2012, 2013 and 2017) but the players were captured in broad smiles exchanging pleasantries with the Burkinabes after the defeat.
Appiah and Laryea, both former players of the team expressed grave concern about the ‘unimpressive performance’ of the Black Stars players.
According to them, the body language of the players after the game was not proper and smacked of a lack of concern to the feelings of a disappointed nation.
“You’ve lost a game, you’ve lost bronze and it’s like they don’t care and were cracking jokes with the Burkinabes?” Laryea quizzed.
“Some may not agree, but I think they should have shown emotions. It is an international game and a medal was at stake…,” he added.
Taking his turn, Appiah who recently hanged his boots re-echoed his ex-teammate’s sentiments.
“Sometimes players forget that the camera is on them so they may do some things and not be aware…but it’s not cool. Yes, I think the reaction was not good…” he said.
Appiah added that the body language of the team prior to the medal presentation looked like “we don’t care about the third place.”
“Third place is important!” Appiah emphasized.
The Black Stars will be hoping to lift the trophy in Cameroon in 2019.