Black Stars players must select their own captain – Dan Owusu

Ghanaian football legend Dan Owusu has made some recommendations which he believes if accepted by Black Stars coach CK Akonnor will help address the perennial captaincy issues the team faces.

The Ghana Football Association on Sunday announced some changes in the captaincy of the team.

Andre Ayew retained his position as substantive captain but Kwadwo Asamoah was replaced by Thomas Partey as the first deputy while a new role of the second deputy was created for Richard Ofori.

Certain persons including former assistant coach of the Black Starlets, Opeele Boateng have opined that Jordan Ayew and Mubarak Wakaso should have been considered for the position.

Speaking to Peace FM, Dan Owusu recounted that during their era, the captains were selected by the players.

He said that the technical team nominated three players after which the entire team will select one of them as captain.

Dan Owusu said that this practice prevented infighting and gave the captain the respect of the team because he was selected by them.

He stated that this style of choosing the captain of the Black Stars enhanced respect and unity in the team which propelled them to win titles.

“Our time we voted for the captains. The technical team officials will nominate three players and we will vote on them. Before we voted, we looked at their behaviour. Kwasi Owusu, Awule Quaye and Isaac Eshun were all selected by the players”.

“There were no issues with the captaincy then because whoever we elected represented the choice of the players. They all enjoyed their tenure until they retired. This is how we should do it because if the coach imposes his preference on the team, it will create problems. We have to change how we select captains”, he told Peace FM.

Dan Owusu is regarded as one of Ghana’s greatest goal-scorers. He won the GPL goal-king award thrice during his career.