The ex-Black Star has shared his thoughts on the Black Stars possible performances at the upcoming tournament.
Former Ghana international Ibrahim Sunday does not rate Ghana among the favourites for the Africa Cup of Nations title.
The Black Stars are set to battle it out with 23 other teams at the continental showpiece which starts in Cameroon on Sunday.
It will be yet another quest for a fifth title, having failed in their bid to rule Africa again since winning the last of their trophies in 1982.
“[It is] every country who qualified for the tournament’s dream to win the trophy [but] the trophy will be won by only one country,” Sunday told Edubeaseman FM.
“It’s true Ghana have not won the trophy for 40 years but maybe this time, it could be ours. If you look at the teams that are going for the tournament, if we shall be truthful, the Black Stars are not favourites to win the cup.
“But favourites are not guaranteed to win tournaments. A well-prepared side, psychologically, mentally, physically and everything normally has the chance to win the trophy.
“Has Ghana prepared the players in that manner? Although the Black Stars are not favourites, if they work hard with good training, they can win the tournament.”
At the last Afcon in Egypt, Ghana put out a disappointing show, suffering a Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Tunisia.
Meanhwile, former Ghana sports minister Joseph Yamin has called on Ghanaians to lower expectations for the team.
He said: “The teams that has qualified for the tournament is capable of winning the trophy, so Ghana being part of these countries stand a chance to win it but it is not always the best country that wins.
“To me, I think sometimes our expectations as Ghanaians are always high because of our exploits in the past years but if you look at the time Ghana were dominant, the teams were not enough but at the moment we are talking about 24 countries yearning for the trophy.
“Football has become a global game so the narrative of being a football nation has changed. Our expectations are always high and it affects the support base for the team. So, I will advise Ghanaians not to over expect, we need to minimise our expectations until the team gets everything right.”
Ghana are set to kick off their Afcon 2021 campaign with a clash with Morocco on Monday.
Source: Goal
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Fact is you don't have a black stars football team in Ghana. You don't go gathering players from around the globe few weeks to a major tournament and expect to win. In the1980s we had committed local players who wanted fame for Ghana and not necessarily money. Come to think of Mohammed polo, Ofei Ansah, Adolf Armah, Samson Lamptey, Peter Lamptey, Anas Seidu, George Alhassan, Opoku Afriyie, Opoku Nti, Papa Arko, Albert Asaase, John Bannerman, Windsor Kofi Abbrey, Francis Kumi, Yahaya Kassim, Ebo Mends, Addae Kyenkyenhene, Seth Ampadu, Haruna Yussif, Kwesi Appiah, Ernest Apau, Joseph Carr, Mohammed Odoom, Isaac Afranie, Sarfo Gyamfi, Mohammed Choo, Anane Kobo, Shaibu Grant, Rauf Iddi, Ibrahim Merigah, Stanley Vandapuye, Opeele Aboagye, ABEDI PELE etc. with these players one could go to sleep knowing that Ghana has what it takes to get there. Today we only present young men we call black stars with several doubts surrounding us. I doubt whether we can go pass the ground stages in this tournament. Afcon 2021 in Cameroon. Meat that has fat will prove it by the heat of fire. We are watching.