How wicked can people be? - Prince Tagoe flares up over Ghana's treatment of Felix Afena-Gyan

Former Black Stars striker Prince Tagoe is still unhappy with the country's treatment of US Cremonese striker Felix Afena-Gyan.

During the peak of his career, the handlers of the Black Stars, against the advice of some experts, invited Afena-Gyan to play for Ghana in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria. The player patriotically accepted the call and performed exceptionally well.

However, after the qualifiers, Afena-Gyan was dropped from the 2022 World Cup squad, which many viewed as mistreatment and betrayal of the young player.

Two years later, Prince Tagoe still feels upset about that decision, expressing concern about the impact it had on Afena-Gyan's career.

In an interview on Accra FM, Prince Tagoe argued that including Afena-Gyan in the World Cup squad would have helped his career flourish.

Tagoe cautioned Ghanaians to treat players with respect and ensure they leave the national team on good terms.

"Some Ghanaians must learn to treat players right so they leave the national team with happiness, not with pain. When we needed this boy so badly for the World Cup, he came and performed with his pressing and work rate.

"Dropping that boy ahead of the World Cup would have been traumatic for him. Look at how his career has gone since. He is doing well, but if we had taken him to the World Cup, it would have helped him.

"Sometimes I ask myself, how can people be that wicked? If you've followed football, you'd know that how we treated him wasn't the best. Besides, we don't have good strikers. When someone sacrifices and shows up for you, you don't treat him like that," he said.

Tagoe criticized the decision to exclude Afena-Gyan from the squad, emphasizing that Ghana lacks quality strikers and should have appreciated his sacrifice and dedication.

Afena-Gyan made headlines by becoming the first player born after January 1, 2003, to score in the Italian top flight.

He also became the third-youngest foreign player to score at least twice in a single Serie A game. His crucial goals against Genoa secured a victory for Jose Mourinho's Roma.

EK