Former Ghana midfielder Derek Boateng has spoken out in defence of Felix Afena-Gyan’s decision to decline an invitation to join the Ghana U-23 team for their qualifier against Algeria.
Despite Afena-Gyan’s refusal, the Black Meteors were able to secure a place in the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
Coach Ibrahim Tanko said that Afena-Gyan did not appear for the tie because he was not ready.
However, it has been suggested that the player’s decision was influenced by his failure to make it onto the World Cup squad, despite playing a critical role in Ghana’s matches against Nigeria.
“Ghanaians have not been fair to that boy, so I support his decision to decline an invitation. Football is no longer about going to the field and performing a lot of things that people don’t care about and only blame players for not performing.
“Because football is all about the brain, you can never perform if you don’t have a good mindset. He was our best player in both of our games against Nigeria. Because we were playing one top, he was the player who was fighting four Nigerian defenders.
“He tried everything, we qualified for the World Cup and they didn’t invite him, and now they want him for under 23 and his management says he isn’t ready,” the former Getafe midfielder said on Asempa FM.