Black Stars Are Not Ready To Win AFCON – GFA Exco Member

Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Council member Tony Aubynn says Black Stars are not ready to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The four-time champions last clinched the continental trophy in 1982 when it was hosted in Libya and has since then lost three finals. They lost twice to Ivory Coast both in penalty shootouts in 1992 and 2015 and lost 1-0 to Egypt in 2010.

Ghana however saw a recent decline after making six consecutive semi-final appearances and have failed to impress. They were knocked out in the round of 16 in the 2019 AFCON and experienced their arguably worst-ever appearance in the previous edition when they failed to even go past the group stage.

Tony Aubynn believes it is about time the nation admitted the team’s weaknesses and built on a long-term project.

According to him, it will be a dishonest target to aim to win the tournament anytime soon.

“We have talented players in Europe and in our local league but I wonder if we have a team.

“What we need to do as a country is to lower our expectations as Ghanaians and then build from the base.

“If we still believe we are good enough to beat Brazil or win Afcon at this level of our team, then we will be deceiving ourselves,” he told Akoma FM.

“If we win it’s fine but we need to build just as Senegal, Morocco and the rest have done in recent years now.

“The truth is that we need to tone down our expectations and rebuild strongly for the future.

Meanwhile, Ghana are aiming to qualify for the 2023 AFCON as they face the Central African Republic in their final round of qualifiers.