Stephen Appiah, a former Black Stars captain, claimed that occasionally he second-guesses himself for having previously invested his money in the unimpressive Black Stars.
In an interview with Sompa Sports, Appiah admitted that at one point, he had to cover the players’ plane tickets since they didn’t find the Black Stars to be thrilling.
The former Juventus player, who is anxious to help the Black Stars restore their competitive status but has been hesitant for unidentified reasons, mentioned that he once gave winning bonuses to players after games.
“One thing that is painful is that, some of us we are very humble. But when you know your value, you don’t want to do certain things or mingle with certain people. We all want to help because we have helped before even if it wasn’t enough,” he said
“There was a time everybody(players) had no interest in playing for Black Stars. There was a time I had to pay for players’ plane tickets to Ghana and there was a time I paid winning bonuses,” he added.
The 42-year-old, who is not impressed with how the team is run currently, implied that he regrets spending his money on the team, but hopes things will get better.
“So today if I see how things are been done, I ask myself why did I waste my money? But we hope that one day it will be well.”
Stephen Appiah led Ghana to their first World Cup in 2006. The Black Stars finished the tournament as the only African country to advance from their group.
After missing two Africa Cup of Nations, Appiah returned to the team for the 2010 World Cup and helped them make history by reaching the quarter-finals, becoming the third African team to do so.
He announced his retirement after the tournament.
Ghana is now ranked eleventh in Africa and fifty-third in the world, having previously been ranked second in Africa and twenty-third in the world before Stephen Appiah’s retirement.
The Black Stars have failed to advance from the group stage in both of their last two World Cup appearances, and their best finish in the last two AFCON tournaments was a round-16 finish in 2019.