Ghana will win AFCON 2012 not because of Egypt, other ouster

Veteran coach Emmanuel Kwasi Afranie has stated that Ghana would win the trophy of the upcoming African Cup of Nations tournament base on determination, hard work and commitment on the part of the players.

He however hinted that Ghana was not going to win the cup because of the missing out of countries such as Egypt, Nigeria and Cameroon in this month tournament.

Coach Afranie as he is popularly called said he has been hearing a lot of Ghanaians saying that since the tough teams like Egypt, Nigeria and Cameroon could not make it to the Cup of Nations this time around; Ghana will win the tournament hands down.

According to him, that is a ‘dangerous mistake’ because there are still some equally good teams like Mali, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoirepresent in the tournament.

“Any other team that has qualified to the tournament has equal chances of winning the cup but for Ghana to win, it will depend on how serious we take the competition. In terms of experience and formidability, we have what it takes to win. If we fight hard enough, we will sail through the tournament and bring the Cup home,” Mr Afranie said.

Mr Afranie who was part of the squad that won the African Cup of Nations 30yrs ago –that was the last time Ghana won the tournament, said “it is about time Ghana won the tournament again”.

“It has been 30yrs since we won the cup and I’m happy I was part of the team that won it. I would love to see us win it again,” he happily stated.

Touching on Ghana’s talismanic striker, Asamoah Gyan’s injury-hamstring, Mr Afranie said depending on the tactics the Black Stars coach Goran Stevanovic wants to adopt, he (Mr Afranie ) does not think the should have a problem replacing the injured striker.

“In the absence of Gyan, the coach should vary his tactics and involve more people from the midfield who are hard and can score goals”, he advised.

Mr Afranie therefore appealed to Ghanaian media to leave coach Goran Stevanovic alone so he can deliver as he promised.

The renowned coach indicated that: “The media men and Ghanaians in general should leave the coach alone to do his job. Let us support him to do the right thing. If he panics and becomes nervous, he will make wrong decisions which will affect us all. We are paying for him always. I don’t think he wants to disgrace himself after making a promise to resign if we do not reach the final stage. If Ghana performs well, it will enrich his CV.”