Ghana’s penalty shootout deficiency due to 'insufficient repetition'

UEFA-licensed coach and sports journalist Nana Agyeman has attributed the Black Stars’ inability to win matches based on penalty shootouts to “insufficient repetition” on the field of play.

The senior national team is known for losing out in tournaments when it comes to penalties.

The last time Ghana won a tournament on a penalty shootout was in 1982.

In the 2010 World Cup, Ghana missed the opportunity to become Africa’s first team to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament by losing on penalty shootouts.

Ghana was again defeated by Uruguay on penalties at the 2014 World Cup.

Speaking in an interview with Benjamin Akakpo on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS), the ace sports journalist, who has also been at the helm of decriminalising cannabis in the country, attributed the country’s penalty shootout problems to inconsistency.

“You see, it’s part practice and part psychological because repetition is everything in football. You look at the Ronaldos and the Messis and they put the ball down outside, near to the boxes, it’s a direct free kick. You know what’s going to happen, the entire team knows what’s going to happen, everybody watching knows this man is going to put it in the top corner. The goalkeeper knows he positions himself well but he can’t stop it because these players practise taking those kicks every single day”.

“They want to become perfect, such players are supposed to produce results, especially around the 18-yard box. Certainly, penalities; no one should really miss a penalty unless it’s a fantastic save. Now, there is insufficient repetition on our training fields, that’s the problem. There is insufficient repetition because it’s all about repetition. When you go on the training field, you repeat what you’ve done the day before and the day before. Many sessions are like that in order to ensure that the players gel together.”

According to Nana Agyeman, Ghana’s style and pattern of play is not achieving the desired results.

“There’s a pattern of play, a style and a pattern of play that is evident, very evident in the great teams of this world. We have a style and pattern of play. We were once known as the Brazilians of Africa because of our football but it’s not producing results.”

He empahsised that “it’s all futile” if the style does not produce results with a one-on-one situation with our player and a goalkeeper.