West Ham forward Andre Ayew told his team-mates to ‘shut up and go home’ after they were put out of the Africa Cup of Nations by Cameroon on Thursday night.
Ayew, who scored two penalties on the way to the semi-final, was unable to contribute on the night, as Ghana froze in their sixth consecutive Cup of Nations semi-final.
But the former Swansea star was eager to move on, accepting the defeat and already looking ahead to two years time, when he insisted the Black Stars would be back.
We have to be honest, Cameroon deserved the victory today, we didn’t do what we had to do,’ said Ayew.
‘We are very disappointed, but there’s not much to say. We just need to shut up, go home, and prepare for the next two years.
It is now 35 years since Ghana, who have a talented squad but rarely performed at their best in Gabon, won a title, but Ayew was adamant that this group can still hit the heights they were always tipped to reach.
‘We’ve got to work hard, and sooner or later we will get this title.
‘It’s football. We are trying, we want to, and we will win it one day. I know it. I believe it.
‘But this is not our time. We want to go, work hard, and one day it will be our time.
‘We know our country will be difficult, they’re not going to be happy, because they expect the cup, which is normal when you have players like you have in the Ghana team.
‘So we are going to go home, keep quiet, work hard, and we’ll see you in two years.’
Manager Avram Grant claimed his side did not deserve to lose, and suggested that the loss of captain Asamoah Gyan to injury was a big factor in their semi-final exit.
‘I think, except the start of the game, things went well for us.
‘We dominated the game, in the second half we created chances to win the game, and then the first attack of Cameroon in the second half, a set piece, they scored a goal. This is football.
‘Asamoah Gyan is a great player. He’s good for us. He played the first game 60 minutes, the second game 60 minutes, he won one penalty and scored one goal.
‘He’s a big miss for us. He didn’t train. I’m very impressed by the way he recovered, but we couldn’t use him. No doubt that with him things would be better for this team.’
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/