Afful: 2015 U20 WC omission affected me psychologically

Sekondi Hasaacas and Ghana U20 striker Samuel Afful (Okocha) has revealed how he was affected emotionally and psychologically after he was excluded from the final squad for the 2015 U20 World Cup which took place in New Zealand.

Afful, who celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday, told Kyzz FM’s morning sports show host Captain Kobby Stonne he felt very bad when his name was excluded from the 21-man team of coach Sellas ‘Borbor’ Tetteh.

The swift striker said, “I was very disappointed when I found out I was not part of the team to represent my country. All the players were in their hotel rooms, we were all in anticipation waiting for the final squad.”

“I could not sleep at some point in time. Some of the players were monitoring various websites to check if the list was out. Some reports had my name while others excluded my name. So the pressure was very high. But around 10pm we were all called to the hall and the names were mention which mine was excluded.”

“I was very disappointed but we were given motivational words to know we can still fight on.”

Afful continued by stating how it felt coming back to Hasaacas camp, “I could not concentrate on my game. My coach Basigi tried taking me up but all proved futile.”

Afful also confirmed he did not have a psychologist to work on his mentality.

The Hasaacas attacker however says he has put all behind him now and is concentrating on his club career.