Former Ghana and Anzhi Makhachkala player Rabiu Mohammed has echoed his former midfield partner Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu’s assertion of the current crop of Black Stars players lacking passion for playing for the country.
In the defense of the squad, some may argue that accepting a call-up alone shows their passion, while others, like Rabiu and Agyemang-Badu, it goes beyond that.
The Black Stars, especially under the regime of Kurt Okraku, president of the Ghana Football Association, have in recent times been criticized for their performances on the field, leading to many calling for the team to forget about qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in order to clean its home.
Though it is evident that the team lacks real on-field leadership, the performances in the AFCON qualifying series so far have led to many questioning their zeal and passion.
Rabiu Mohammed, who despite not winning any trophy with the Black Stars during his era, helped the team to a second-place finish twice in Angola (2010) and Equatorial Guinea (2015).
He revealed any new player that joined the team consisting of Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, Richard Kingson, Asamoah Gyan, John Mensah, and others had to match up the same passion and zeal these legendary names had playing for the country.
“We joined a group of players who had passion for the team because they had been together for long, so we couldn’t afford to relax. Since we wanted to be regulars on the team, we also developed the zeal they had for the team. So when you watch the current team play, there is no individual player you can pick as a standout. But now they need to have the passion to play for the team,” he said to Nana Darkwa Gyasi on Max FM.
However, unlike Agyemang-Badu, Rabiu reckons the technical team of the Black Stars has an ardous tasks of getting the squad ready just like every other national team due to the short period of training before matches.
“Sometimes in the national team, the players have a short period before playing on a matchday after reporting for camp. So we need to realize we can’t use three days to transform the player’s form when he is not ready. No coach can do that. Even the best coach would have a problem with it,” he added.
The Black Stars, led by head coach and former player Otto Addo, now face the humiliation of failing to reach Africa’s biggest football showpiece since 2004.
