2019 Africa Cup of Nations: Captaincy issues could affect Black Stars - Odartey Lamptey

Published on: 28 May 2019
2019 Africa Cup of Nations: Captaincy issues could affect Black Stars - Odartey Lamptey
Nii Odartey Lamptey

 

Former Ghana International Nii Odartey Lamptey says the decision by Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah to name a new captain at this moment could affect the performance of the team at the tournament if the issue is not handled well.

According to him there have been issues in the past concerning the captaincy which has created problems for the national team during tournaments.

He further went on to say that the timing for the change in the captaincy was wrong as it has diverted the team’s and entire public focus ahead of the tournament.

"We have a history of issues with captaincy so we should have handled this issue in a way that it won’t affect us like it did in the past", he told Happy FM.

"A month before a tournament for all these issues of the captaincy to come up is distracting the team. The timing is very poor because people are now focusing on the captaincy issues rather than the preparation towards the tournament", he added.

The former U-17 star in his comments indicated that Asamoah Gyan should have been left to captain the team at the AFCON since this was going to be his last tournament.

"Ideally they should have allowed Asamoah Gyan to take the team to Egypt then after the tournament it can be taken from him or it should have been done six months ago not now.

"I can’t advise Asamoah Gyan to reject the General Captaincy role but my fear is that people will attribute anything bad that happens in camp to him and this captaincy issues".

Concerning Gyan’s decision to make a return after announcing his retirement, Odartey Lamptey insisted he should have maintained his position.

"He should have maintained his retirement but nobody can reject a Presidential request".

Kwesi Appiah has named Andre Ayew as the new captain of the team ahead of the tournament with the former skipper of the side Asamoah Gyan elevated to General captain.

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