Afriyie Acquah still haunted by 2015 Afcon finals penalty miss in defeat to Cote d'Ivoire

Ghana midfielder Afriyie Acquah has revealed that he still feels the pain of missing his penalty as the Black Stars lost the Africa Cup Nations final in 2015 to La Cote d'Ivoire.

After a man of the match performance in a pulsating goalless draw against the Elephants at the Estadio de Bata, Afriyie saw his spot-kick saved by the Ivorian goalkeeper Boubacar Barry.

“I have personally not heard fans ask that, but Avram Grant knew what he was doing and all the players in the squad also knew my skill from the penalty spot. I never missed a kick at training. I am very good at penalties. In fact, when the Ivorians missed their second penalty, Grant changed the kicking order just so I could go and take that kick. I was confident in the approach to the kick but these things happen. I missed,” the 28-year old told godfred.substack.com

Acquah has not been able to watch the repeat of that game, admitting he still feels haunted.

“I have still not watched that game. I remember when we returned to Ghana from Equatorial Guinea, I went out with my family to eat at a restaurant. When we entered the TV in the restaurant had the game on replay. I begged the restaurant manager to change the channel for me,” says Acquah.