We needed a leader during penalty shootout – Kuffour

Ex-Black Stars defender Sammy Kuffour is adamant that the Black Stars lost the penalty shootout against the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday night, mainly because they had no leader during that time.

The Black Stars managed to hold the Ivoirians to a goalless 120 minutes before losing three kicks in the penalty shootout to give the Elephants their second AFCON trophy.

Moments before the end of the second half of the extra time, head coach Avram Grant substituted Captain Asamoah Gyan bringing on Frank Acheampong, a gamble, according to Kuffour, that failed, as the latter could not even get his penalty on target.

“As a player, there are times you need to forget about the past and move on. This is the African Cup finals and every player wants to be part of it, yet the coaches chose to take him out because of what happened in Brazil”, the seemingly angry Sammy Kuffour mentioned.

“You could see that we needed a leader during the penalty shootout and there was none because Gyan is much respected in the team and when it matters most, he was taken out.”

“It’s because of him we are in the finals in the first place, but he turned his back on the team when it really mattered most, and I don’t think it’s fair to all Ghanaians.”