Ex-Leeds United ace Yeboah sheds light on why Ghana missed out on Afcon 1992 title

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The erstwhile Frankfurt striker looks back on issues surrounding the final game against Cote d'Ivoire

Former Ghana international Anthony Yeboah has revealed the team was divided at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), resulting in a final defeat to Cote d'Ivoire.

Four-time champions, the Black Stars hopes of adding a fifth gold to their cabinet in Senegal ended in disappointment following a penalty shootout defeat to Cote d'Ivoire.

The match ended 0-0 after extra-time time before The Elephants emerged supreme in a marathon shoot-out which ended 11-10. Ghana played the game without influential captain Abedi Ayew 'Pele' who was serving a suspension.

“We realised we made a lot of mistakes, we were supposed to win the tournament totally because we were much better than the others,” former Leeds United and Eintracht Frankfurt striker Yeboah said on GTV Sports Plus.

“Unfortunately, Abedi 'Pele' missed the finals because he was suspended and that was a big miss because he was one of the key players and the captain of the team.

“Just petty things we couldn’t do right cost us that trophy but the team we had at that time was fantastic. There was also a little bit of misunderstanding in the team.

“Yes, it is true [that the team was divided] because you could see from some of the players. For example when we meet or when we sit together as a group, you could see the Kumasi people sitting at a particular place and the Accra people also sitting at a particular place.

"We didn’t have a problem against each other but as I was saying there was some misunderstanding. The teamwork wasn’t like it was supposed to be, so I think that cost us a lot.”

Ghana are searching for a first Afcon title since lifting the last of their trophies at Libya 1982.

On their last attempt, the Black Stars suffered a Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Tunisia at Egypt 2019, exiting the continental showpiece for the first time before the quarter-finals since 2006.

In 1996, Ghana reached the semi-finals again, this time placing fourth after falling to Zambia in a third-place play-off.

The West Africans finished third and second respectively in 2008 and 2010 before making consecutive fourth-placed appearances at Gabon/Equatorial Guinea in 2012 and South Africa 2013.

At Equatorial Guinea 2015, Ghana, under former Chelsea coach Avram Grant, came mighty close once again, this time losing to Cote d’Ivoire on penalties in the final.

In 2017, the Black Stars ended the tournament in fourth position.

2020-05-26 23:00:06

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