Work harder - Damba to local players

Former Black Stars goalkeeper, Abubakar Damba has called on Ghanaian players playing at home to wake up and work harder if they want recognition from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Africa’s football governing body [CAF] has released the list of 30 provisional players with the inclusion of Christian Atsu and Thomas Partey.

Out of these, one of them will be crowned Africa’s best player but Damba believes with no local player making it into the list of best African player on the continent list means they may not have worked hard enough.

“It is all about the criteria for selecting the best players optimally, it has to do with performance not only on the pitch and there are certain reasons why you must be selected,” he told Class Sports.

“This simply tells us that local players must work harder. There is always an opportunity because if you work hard you will be rewarded and you will be recognised by CAF. So this simply tells us that local players in the Ghana Premier League must wake up and work hard,” he added.

However, Damba has praised Ghanaian duo, Atsu and Partey for making it to the 30-man provisional list and have urged them to see themselves as winners even if they do not win the ultimate award.

“These two players have demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt as football is a concern and national assignments are concern that they are a real force to reckon with. I’m overly impressed with their personal discipline, attitude and passion to play football and these are some reasons why they were selected.

“They are always prepared and they try to do their best for the country. I think they deserve their nomination and either they make it to the last three or even if they fail to win the ultimate, they must see themselves as winners,” he added.