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Soccer News of Thursday, 27 September 2001

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I Will Never Play For Ghana Again -Nyarko

Alex Nyarko's reputation for unpredictability has been confirmed with his announcement that he will never again play for Ghana. Nyarko, whose career took a severe nose dive after he joined Everton, is one of the Black Star's most experienced and successful professional players.

He first announced he was retiring from the game in April, after a fan ran onto the field during a game against Arsenal suggesting they swap shirts.

The implication was that Nyarko was better off the pitch than on it.

Nyarko said he did not want to go through such humiliation again and said he wanted to leave Everton.

Everton's manager criticised him for reacting in a hysterical fashion, and Nyarko disappeared, inviting disciplinary action. His decision to quit the game did not last long though.

After resurfacing, he was loaned to Monaco.
But it appears he is bowing out of the international scene for good.
Nyarko did not take part in any of Ghana's World Cup qualifiers, and played in only two of the Black Stars games on the way to the Nations Cup finals.
But it would have been extremely unlikely that Coach Fred Osam Duodo would have over-looked him for Mali 2002.
"I have some reasons (for quitting) that I can't explain to the public," the midfielder said.
"I am still young, but I have reasons. I've sent a letter to Fifa to confirm this, in case there are any problems."
The motivation behind Nyarko's move is hard to understand.
He was putting the problems of Everton behind him, and the Nation's Cup could have been a good break from the pressures of European football.
He says he is embarrassed about Ghana's failure to make it to the World Cup, especially when Nigeria, who were in the same qualifying group, played so badly.
But he says he supports the policy of using more of Ghana's domestic players in the national team, which he may feel justifies his announcement to quit.