We are sorry - Appiah, players apologise for World Cup failure

Black Stars coach, Kwasi Appiah and the team’s skipper, Asamoah Gyan, have asked all Ghanaians and particularly, those left broken-hearted to forgive the team for their poor World Cup showing but rather support the team to recover for the future.

Arriving to  a low key welcome at the Kotoka International Airport yesterday, Gyan said  that the team’s target was to hold high the flag of Ghana at the tournament but things did not work out, apologising on behalf of his teammates for the disappointment.

“All I want to say is sorry to the fans who have been disappointed, we are also affected by the way things turned out in Brazil,” he said.

Although the Stars made their worst World Cup campaign since their maiden appearance in 2006, the captain asked fans not to completely give up on the team. He urged them to continue to pray for the players to psychologically  recover and build a formidable team for the future.

Similarly, Coach Appiah, who ignored questions from the media regarding controversies that rocked the team’s camp in Brazil, also apologised to the Ghanaians for the team’s performance.

“I am very sorry we did not do much better. Ghana is a football-loving country and everybody would have loved that we did much better than where we reached, but unfortunately we could not make it and we, like all the teeming fans around the world, are all disappointed,” said Appiah, who deferred all questions until an official team press conference on Wednesday.  

Unlike their arrival from the 2006 and 2010 tournaments which were greeted with pomp at elaborate welcome ceremonies, the usual buzz was missing yesterday as only family members, close friends of the players and some journalists were on hand to meet the players and officials, led by GFA president, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

One after the other, the players emerged from the arrival hall and quietly made their way into waiting vehicles ignoring interviews from the media.

Apart from Russia-based Wakaso Mubarak, who left in a modest taxi cab, all the players abandoned the official bus and drove home in their luxury vehicles comprising, Range Rover Sport, Porsche Cayenne, Audi A8, Toyota Landcruiser V8, among other garish automobiles.