2019 AFCON: Appiah's quality questioned by ex-GFA boss after Ghana's fiasco

Former Ghana Football Association president Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has blamed coach James Appiah for the Black Stars' disappointing performance at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Egypt, citing the dramatic captaincy change a month before the tournament as proof of the coach's lack of self-confidence.

In the hunt for their fifth continental title, the west Africans suffered a shocking exit from the competition in the Round of 16 following a penalty shootout defeat to Tunisia.

It was the first time Ghana had failed to make the quarter-final of the tournament since 2006.

“You do not change the captain of the team just weeks to a game and expect to get remarkable results at the end of the tournament,” Nyaho-Tamakloe, GFA president between 2004 and 2005, told The Ghana Report.

“He lacks self-confidence which he clearly demonstrated when he failed to maintain his stance on [excluding Gyan from the Afcon squad following the striker's decision to quit the team if stripped of the captaincy].

“Be bold and resign on principle."

Veteran striker Asamoah Gyan retired from international duty after he was stripped of the captaincy in favour of Swansea City attacker Andre Ayew.

It eventually took the intervention of Ghana's president Nana Akufo-Addo to persuade the 33-year-old to reverse his decision and accept his place in the squad.

However, rumours swirled around the squad that relations between the coach, Ayew and Gyan were strained throughout the tournament.

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