"Forget Nations Cup" - Frank Amakwa

By Peter Demeyin

Lagos - Ghanaian full back, Frank Amankwa, has told Super Eagles players in blunt terms to forget about winning next year's Nations Cup to be jointly hosted by Nigeria and Ghana in January.

Amankwa, who featured for the Black Stars in the 1994 and 1996 Nations Cup, in which the Stars lost on both occasions in the quarter final stages, told P.M.Sport yesterday that Nigeria appears unserious for the biennial championship. "From the look of things, it appears Nigeria is not serious for the Nations Cup. Because there is nothing meaningful that your Super Eagles are doing to show they are ready for the championship," Amankwa, who presently plays for Dutch club, AZ, said.

While acknowledging the fact that Nigeria has tested players who play for big clubs in Europe, Amankwa nonetheless picked Ghana and Morocco as likely winners of the championship ahead of Nigeria's Super Eagles.

Amankwa who played for the FIFA All Stars team against Mandela XI in honour of former South African president at the FNB Stadium on August 17, attributed his country's latest winning runs to the ingenuity and commitment of players like Charles Akunnor (Wolfsburg), Austin Ahinful (Porto), Sam Johnson (Fernabache) and Richard Kinston (Galatasaray). "Sincerely speaking, I will advise Nigerians to forget the Nations' Cup because we have a better team," Amankwa said.