23rd February, 2012
The inquest into how Ghana failed to inspire at the last Africa Cup of Nations has taken a new twist.
Coach of the team, Goran Stevanovic revealed the destructive mentality of some of his players who feel the use of black magic is the answer to football success, according to documents SuperSport.com has seen.
The Serbian made this known in his technical report of what happened at the recently concluded Nations Cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
“We all need to help in changing some players’ mentality about using black power to destroy themselves and also make sure we install discipline and respect for each other,” said the coach in the report.
The statement is a damning indictment of the mindset of these professionals, who are mostly Europe-base and are usually expected to believe in the ability of hard work and scientific process to achieve rewards on the field.
“After losing to Zambia, there arose so many accusations among the players during my meeting with them,” Goran also said in the technical report.
“I have learnt great lessons from African football and also about Ghanaian players’ behaviour on and off the field.”
Ghana failed to make it past the semi-final in the African Cup, losing to eventual champions, Zambia. The Serbian gave his views on the matter.
“We reached the semi-finals of the competition playing against Zambia. We played our best game in the tournament, outplaying the Zambians technically and tactically.
“We created many scoring opportunities but unfortunately could not utilise our chances. The Zambians created two chances and were fortunate to get a goal. We lost 1-0 but there was vast improvement in our game compared to the group stage matches.”
Getting to the semi itself proved to be laboured, with tetchy performances in the group stages and a lucky break against Tunisia helping the team that far.
The coach revealed the shattered confidence of the team following the loss to the Chipolopolo.
“After the loss every individual in camp was devastated and the spirit in camp was zero. I held a meeting with the playing body the following day to encourage and to psyche them for our next game with Mali.”