Prioritize winning AFCON for Ghana – Odartey Lamptey to Akonnor

Former Ghana international Nii Odartey Lamptey says to end Ghana’s AFCON hunger should be prominent in Akonnor’s plans.

He, therefore, urged Black Stars coach CK Akonnor to prioritize the winning of trophies.

In an interview with Peace FM, he explained that with the country’s trophy drought nearing four decades, any coach who takes over the Black Stars should aim at nothing but a trophy.

“Our major objective is to win a trophy so it’s a key agenda for every coach. Every coach has his philosophy but I believe you must have a large pool of players so that in case a player is unavailable, you can easily replace him. It has been a long time since we won a trophy so winning it is important but having a good team will help you during tournaments”, he said.

In a recent interview with Starr FM, Akonnor revealed his intentions to hand selections to some new players, mostly foreign-based players of Ghanaian origin who according to him, are interested in playing for Ghana.

“The most important thing is those who were born in Europe. Some of them are eager to play for the Black Stars. That is what we want to do. Look at Nigeria, I think they have done that in a very nice way. They have brought a lot of guys who were born in Europe and the Nigerian team is now transformed so we are trying to do the same with the national team,” he concluded.

Odartey has endorsed Akonnor’s plans, stating adding some new faces to the old players will help strengthen the Black Stars.

He noted that it is part of the team-building process and Akonnor’s plans could yield the desired result.

“CK is now building his team so he will use a lot of methods. Selecting new players is the right thing because in case of anything, it will help him get some replacement. It’s good decision that he is starting with that”.