Skipper André Ayew says he should take full blame for Ghana’s exit from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
On Monday night, the Black Stars suffered their earliest exit from the flagship African competition since the 2006 edition – coincidentally hosted by Egypt – as they got beaten 5-4 in penalty shootouts by Tunisia in a Round of 16 tie after a 1-1 extra time draw.
Ayew, who became captain of the senior national team prior to the Afcon tournament, admits the team failed woefully in their bid to win the title for the first time in 37 years.
“I am very sad and disappointed that we could not get to the next stage but we need to take heart and be stronger. The entire team gave everything but it did not go our way.
“As a Ghanaian and as a leader, no player is to be held responsible for this; I take the responsibility…,” he told reporters.
“If we have been kicked out at this stage it means we had a bad tournament and since we couldn’t achieve the mission we came here for, I will say we failed,” Ayew added.
Tunisia, having gone past Ghana, will face Madagascar in the quarterfinals on July 11.
