Retired and former Asamoah Gyan, captain of the Black Stars, has expressed his displeasure towards the Black Meteors team for their performance at the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Gyan stated that the players lacked a sense of urgency throughout the tournament, and this was evident from the second group game onwards.
In that game, Ghana suffered a 1-5 defeat against Morocco, following a victory against Congo in their tournament opener.
Despite scoring first in their last game against Guinea, Ghana only managed a 1-1 draw and subsequently exited the competition.
Gyan promptly shared his disappointment in a social media post and further elaborated on his thoughts in an interview with Asempa FM.
He emphasized the lack of urgency displayed by the players and voiced his concerns about their overall performance at the tournament.
What I saw in this Black meteors team is some players think they are bigger than the whole team. Small hype and fame ? SHM. Modern football is not about only what you do with the ball. It’s about what you do without the ball. I see players thinking the can play alone. It’s about…
— ASAMOAH GYAN (@ASAMOAH_GYAN3) June 30, 2023
“Everyone understood what I tweeted [after the game]. I didn’t watch the full first two games but when you look at the things that happened against Morocco, you could see them break on the counterattack and you will see just a few defenders [of the Black Meteors] while the others are left behind jogging,” he said.
“It was as if they didn’t have any sense of urgency. That is where I realised [there were issues].
“When I watched the game [vs Guinea], you could see individuals even struggle to put together 2-3 passes and when we lose the ball, we are not aggressive enough to win it back.
“We have the players but how to approach the game is what we lack.
“How do we expect to win a game like this?” he quizzed.
Gyan, who recently announced his decision to retire from professional football, also refused to mention the names of the players he was talking about in his tweet.
“I won’t mention any names but we all watched the game and you could see. I have no personal issues with anyone,” he noted.
“They know themselves.”
The Black Meteors’ exit from the U-23 AFCON also means they miss out on a place at next year’s Olympic Games to be staged in Paris.