Black Stars head coach Kwesi Appiah was compelled to clarify the rationale behind a customized captain’s armband used by Asamoah Gyan which he failed to surrender when he was substituted in Ghana’s win over Ethiopia.
Gyan opened the scoring for Ghana after heading in at the near post from a cross delivered by debutant Thomas Agyapong, making history and scoring his 50th goal for Ghana in the process.
Taken off in the 65th minute of the game, the veteran striker walked off to cheers and applause while still wearing his elaborate red, yellow and green band with an image of his face imprinted on it but he did not surrender it to his deputy Andre Ayew.
To some this might be an egoistic move aimed at re-emphasizing that this is still his team or basically a way of commemorating a special day. But Head coach Kwesi Appiah said that Gyan was well within his rights to customize his captaincy accessories as he saw fit.
“There is nothing going on in the team, there is so much peace and unity.
“Discipline is the highest I have seen since I have been around the team. What happened was the captain band had been customized with Gyan’s face on it. “We are all aware that if he was being brought off, we could not give the customised version to Dede “The idea was to give Dede the officially provided one. Asamoah Gyan is the captain of the team and if he wants to wear a customized armband, I don’t see anything wrong with it. For me captaincy should not be an issue.”
“In my meeting this morning with the players I told them that everyone was a captain on the pitch.
“The goalkeeper is a captain because he controls the defenders, they are also captains of the midfielders and the midfielders who are also captains of the attackers. I don’t know why this always becomes an issue,” he told reporters at the post-game press conference after Ghana’s 5-0 win over Ethiopia to kick start the Afcon 2019 qualifiers.
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By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana