Black Stars must have value - Shilla Illiasu

Ghana’s 2006 World Cup squad member Shilla Illiasu believes building a competitive spirit around the Black Stars team is the key to winning tournaments.

Mentioning specifically the Africa Cup of Nations, he said “the most important thing is before you invite a player to come serve the nation, you need to let him know that wearing the jersey itself is a source of pride”.

“But if the idea is to say have a player playing for Chelsea and you just bring him, he will not even know the importance of the jersey he is wearing.”

Ghana’s current AFCON trophy wins stand at four, the same situation since 1982 when the country last won, and have been overtaken by Egypt (7) and Cameroon (5) since then.

Illiasu believes there “should be enough competition” in the team.

“There is a difference between playing for your country and a club, so we should drum home that mentality.

“The competition is very important. Even if there is quality and there is no competition, those at the bench should be able to offer some stiff competition to those playing, and the one playing should also know that someone has equal quality so they can’t afford to make mistakes.”

Illiasu’s career saw him play domestically for Real Tamale United, King Faisal and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

He also played for Russian side FC Saturn Ramenskoye and Impuls Dilijan in Armenia.