“Not only [Mohammed] Kudus but some other young players. There were people who felt the young players didn’t deserve the Black Stars call-up. But for me, I had watched them and I believed them. I always told my players don’t prove to me, prove to Ghanaians. If you do well that’s for your own good.
After Ghana’s poor showing at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, reaching only the round of 16 and bowing out to Tunisia in Alexandria, a call for new dawn was made.
Kwesi Appiah, then the head coach of Ghana bumped into me at the team’s lobby with a friend and he looked very worried. He told the friend I was with that “give me some time because I need to rest my head and see what the future holds.” Of course, the future looked bleak for him because a lot of Ghanaians were fuming at the stadium, around the team’s hotel and back home.
I had spent over 16 hours in air from Ghana through Morocco and additional two hours by road from Cairo to Alexandria just to witness how Ghana were knocked out of the tournament- so obviously I was among the vast majority who questioned Appiah’s tactics. Yet, the man insisted that he could turn things around since he had earmarked some talented players whom he thinks could replace the aging squad and send Ghana to the promise land.
Surprisingly, among these players was Kudus; very talented at age 19 but not quite ready for the big stage despite going through the ranks of Ghanaian youth teams. Yet, Appiah risked everything to make sure he marked his debut for Ghana along side other youngsters like Gideon Mensah and Baba Iddrisu against South Africa on September 15, 2019.
Rumours even had it that Appiah was threatened should he fail to win against South Africa, he would be sacked since he went against the wishes of some top football executive members at the FA to play Kudus and his likes. Eventually, Kudus announced his presence few minutes after coming on in Cape Coast as he scored a wonderful goal to send the home fans into wild jubilations- a new king has been born.
“My job was on the line because I was warned that if I lost the match I will be sacked. I didn’t mind because I knew I was doing what was good for the country,” Coach Kwesi Appiah shared in an interview with Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV.
“Not only [Mohammed] Kudus but some other young players. There were people who felt the young players didn’t deserve the Black Stars call-up. But for me, I had watched them and I believed them. I always told my players don’t prove to me, prove to Ghanaians. If you do well that’s for your own good,” he added.
Three months later, Appiah was eventually sacked after falling out with the new Ghana FA president Kurt Okraku who had previously criticised his style of coaching and mode of selecting players to the national team especially when he left out his player Benjamin Tetteh.
Now, Kudus has improved in all aspects of his career, earning a big move from Ajax to the most talked about league in the world- Premier League with West Ham and becoming a global icon with series of inspiring performances every weekend and even at the 2022 FIFA World Cup staged in Qatar.
With 37 international caps for Ghana and 11 goals, star-boy Kudus is now the interim captain of Ghana following the absence of Andre Ayew and Thomas Partey, therefore, the country’s hope for redemption in a miserable Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers hang in his shoulders.
Ghana are surprisingly without a win in Group F after three games in the qualifiers as the Black Stars have picked only two points- losing 1-0 at home to Angola and sharing the spoils with Niger and Sudan.
Kudus missed a sitter in the first leg against Sudan in Accra but he can be pardoned since there were a lot of pressure on him as a new captain and wearing the iconic #10 jersey for the first time in his senior career for Ghana . However, at the Benina Martyrs Stadium in Libya on Tuesday afternoon, Ghanaians expect no excuses and want him to prove to Kwesi Appiah that he truly has an eye for good things that’s why he picked him even when many doubted his potential.
A win for Ghana will be a major boast for Kudus and the Black Stars as that would breath a new life to a terrific start in the qualifiers and possibly snatch the second automatic qualification spot in Group F…. Go Ghana, Go Kudus.
