Former Black Stars midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu
Former Udinese Calcio midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu has admitted that his failure to win a trophy with the Black Stars is his biggest regret.
The 30-year-old midfielder announced his retirement from international football on Thursday, after 12 years of active service.
Speaking in an interview for the first time after his decision, Agyemang-Badu revealed how much regret he felt with his failure to win a trophy with the Black Stars.
He came close to winning the Africa Cup of Nations on two occasions in 2010 and 2015.
“Yes, it is my biggest regret [not winning a trophy with the Black Stars]. I also regretted not winning a penalty shootout with Udinese during Champions League qualification," the former Asante Kotoko midfielder told Joy Sports.
"We would have qualified to the Champions League if we had won. For Ghana, my biggest regret is not winning anything with the Black Stars."
Badu also added that the 2015 edition of the African Cup of Nations [Afcon] was more heartbreaking due to the circumstances surrounding the loss. Ghana took a 2-0 lead during the penalty shootout but lost to Ivory Coast.
“The 2015 AFCON was the closest for me. We were leading in the penalty shootout but we still lost. For the 2010 AFCON, they had promoted the younger ones into the team. The confidence level was not there.
"Ghanaians said ‘let’s give them a try’. We used the one goal project and we got to the finals. Losing against Egypt was not anything so regrettable because the had a solid team. We were young and coming up. We had a lot of inexperienced players so it worried us a bit but the 2015 one was very hurtful.”
Agyemang-Badu made 78 appearances with the Black Stars and scored 11 goals. He was a squad member at two World Cups and five Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournaments, earning two silver medals.
He is currently a free agent after parting ways with Serie A side Hellas Verona.
