12 matches, two wins: Check out Black Stars tournament records with Andre Ayew as captain

Barely a month to the start of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, then Ghana coach, Kwasi Appiah, rocked what appeared to be a smooth-sailing boat with the controversial ousting of Asamoah Gyan as Black Stars skipper and the announcement of Andre Dede Ayew as his replacement.

Like many other captaincy transitions in Black Stars’ history, the move by Kwasi Appiah generated huge furore with President Akufo-Addo having to step in to have Asamoah Gyan make a U-turn on his decision to retire from the team.

Calm, however, returned after Kwasi Appiah, Asamoah Gyan, and Dede Ayew announced separately their commitment to ensuring that peace prevailed in camp and Ghana excelled at the tournament.

Four years on from one of the most seismic moments in the history of the Black Stars, GhanaWeb takes a look at the record of Andre Ayew as Black Stars captain in the four tournaments he led the country.

2019 AFCON

Speculations were widespread at the time that part of the reason Kwasi Appiah swapped Gyan for Dede was that a prophet had told the coach that only Ayew could lead Ghana to success in Egypt where he previously led the Ghana U-20 team to win the 2009 World Youth Championship.

The expectations of Kwasi Appiah were however not met as Ghana endured an extremely difficult tournament.

In Andre Ayew’s first-ever tournament as captain, the Black Stars won only one of four games and drew three. In the group stage, Ghana drew with Cameroon and Benin before chalking a 2-0 victory over Guinea Bissau to advance to the knockout phase.

The Black Stars qualified for the knockout stage but lost to Tunisia in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

2021 AFCON

In his second tournament, things got worse for the charismatic and inspirational Andre Ayew as Ghana left the tournament without a single victory.

Placed in Group C alongside Morocco, Gabon, and Comoros, the Black Stars lost 1-0 to Morocco, and drew 1-1 with Gabon before shockingly losing 2-1 to Comoros despite needing just a draw to advance.

2022 World Cup

Ghana qualified for the biggest football festival on the globe with a sweet victory over bitter rivals Nigeria via the away-goal rule after drawing 0-0 and playing 1-1 in Ghana and Nigeria respectively.

Group H of the World Cup had Ghana, South Korea, Portugal, and Uruguay. Ghana began the tournament with a 3-2 defeat to Portugal which came at the cost of a controversial penalty call by the referee. A 3-2 victory over South Korea restored the nation’s hopes of progressing to the round of 16 but Uruguay who have become Ghana’s sworn enemies owing to the events of the 2010 World Cup had a good last laugh after defeating Ghana 2-0 in a game where things could have been embarrassing for Ayew and his teammates.

2023 AFCON

The 2023 AFCON is still ongoing but Andre Ayew and the Black Stars are out after yet another catastrophic failure in a major competition.

Ghana who were one of the favourites to qualify from Group B which had Egypt, Cape Verde and Mozambique suffered a late capitulation against Mozambique drawing 2-2 in a match where they led 2-0 until the 91st minute.

The two late goals meant that in yet another AFCON, Ghana tasted no victory as they had earlier lost 2-1 and drawn 2-2 with Egypt.

What Andre Ayew said about AFCON 2023

Andre Ayew has apologized for the Black Stars’ performances in Ivory Coast, promising Ghanaians better outings in subsequent tournaments.

“These past days have been very difficult for every Ghanaian and every Ghanaian football fan, and myself,” the Le Havre man said.

“I would like to apologise for the results of the AFCON that we just exited. We should have done better. We should have gotten better results too.

“As the captain of the squad, I take full responsibility for what happened on the pitch for the playing body.

“In Football, these are things that happen. These are things that make you stronger. What doesn’t kill makes you stronger individually and collectively.”

EK/NOQ