Ghana Under-20 Players Chase Money - Coach Afranie

The veteran coach has questioned decisions of the country’s youth players, claiming that their choices may have been responsible for some career struggles.

Former Black Stars coach Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie has lamented the career choices of youth players upon graduating from the under-20 set-up.

The former Asante Kotoko coach led Ghana to clinch silver at the 2001 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Argentina, and is highly rated for grooming players such as Michael Essien, Derek Boateng, John Mensah, Sulley Muntari, John Paintsil, Razak Pingpong and Emmanuel Addoquaye Pappoe, who formed the nexus of that team.

The aforementioned players were also part of Ghana’s final squad for the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany where the Black Stars succumbed to defending champions Brazil at the round of 16 stage.

“When some of these boys finished playing for the [Ghana] under-20s, they rush, chasing money and wrong teams,” Afranie told Starr FM on why some players fail to reach their full potential.

“When you realise you are going to a team where you will not have enough playing time, you don’t need to go.

“If you look at the boys I sent to Argentina, they were the ones that qualified Ghana to the Germany 2006 World Cup because they were all poached by top teams where they played regularly.”

In 2009, Ghana won Africa’s first gold at the under-20 World Cup with a squad comprising current Black Stars players Andre Ayew, Jonathan Mensah, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, Rabiu Mohammed.

However, Dominic Adiyiah, the Top Scorer and Most Valuable Player at same competition held in Egypt, among others, has struggled to live up to expectations.

 
Immediately snapped up by Italian giants AC Milan after the tournament, the 26-year-old striker now plays for Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand.

Source: Goal