Jerry Akaminko is an apology of a defender

By Raymond Yeboah The fear and spirit surrounding the name of Black Stars in African football was put to shame by Kwasi Appiah and his horrendous defenders on Sunday afternoon in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Disregarding patriotic analysis by the nation's media is what is killing Ghanaian football. Ghana's opening match against DR Congo vindicates my earlier article, Black stars squad lacks bite

Any good coach will never put Jerry Akaminko in the central role of defence for a crucial tournament as the Africa Nations’ Cup. The guy was more or less a spectator in the defense. True, Ghana do struggle in their opening matches in every major tournament though but this current Black Stars under Kwasi Appiah and his entire technical team is the poorest one I have ever seen.

The calibre of the opposition, a DR Congo team that had internal wrangling, all sorts of problems that even made their coach Claude Le Roy resign before changing his mind later, a team that refused to train because of winning bonus demands just 3 days before this encounter could come from two goals down to draw parity convinces not only me but renowned African journalist Mahamadu Gaye that Ghana cannot win the trophy.

They are there just to squander the tax payer’s money for a tournament that even doesn't cost 2 million Dollars as prize money. After watching the game, I agree with those who were criticizing the budget the FA was demanding from the Sports Ministry for the tournament.

If Kwasi Appiah wants to progress to next stage he must do away with Jerry Akaminko and that porous defense of his. As it stands now the favourites tag on Ghana is breached and l believed Appiah needs technical brain and support from good coaches.

It’s very disheartening that Ghana has not been able to beat her former coaches in the person of Herve Renard now of Zambia who was an assistant to this current DR Congo team coach, Claude Leroy. Where lays our respect now?

If Kwasi Appiah fails, he should face the consequence of what his white counterparts faced in the past, the boot.