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The former Black Stars shot-stopper has expressed his disappointment about the continent's underwhelming performance at the 2018 World Cup.
 
Former Ghana goalkeeper Abukari Damba is the latest to lament Africa's poor performance at the ongoing World Cup in Russia. 

For the first time since 1982, the continent failed to get a representative in the knockout stage as all five teams - Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia - were sent home after the group stage. 

The disappointing performance has generated discussions about the competitiveness of African nations at the global showpiece, with Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah among the leading figures to have bemoaned the situation, although he was quick to add that the situation does not fully reflect the current state of African football. 

"I agree with Kwesi Appiah that African teams are retrogressing. We don't come to the table when the need arises," Damba told Happy FM. 

"[Senegal striker] Sadio Mane is excellent when playing for Liverpool but look at what he did in Russia.

"Most players are playing because of money and they know that they can’t earn huge sums of money playing for their countries as much as they earn playing for their various clubs [so they don't give their all]."

Africa's best performance since debuting at the World Cup in 1934 has been quarter-final berths by Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana in 1990, 2002 and 2010 respectively. 

"We should inculcate the sense of patriotism in the youth," Damba proposed. 

"The kids must be taught to be patriotic and see the pride in playing for their countries.

"It's very possible for an African team to win the World Cup.