'Kick out Essien, Muntari, Kevin from the Black Stars' - ex-Ghana FA chied Koufie

Published on: 11 July 2014
'Kick out Essien, Muntari, Kevin from the Black Stars' - ex-Ghana FA chied Koufie
Ben Koufie wants the trio out of the Black Stars

One-time GFA chairman and a former Black Stars coach, Ben Koufie, has indirectly suggested to the Black Stars trainer Kwasi Appiah to slam the door on Kevin-Prince Boateng, Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari — and concentrate on building a formidable team out of the young talents at his disposal.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports yesterday, the forthright FIFA instructor simply termed the behaviour of the so-called ‘gang of three’ during the Stars Brazil 2014 World Cup campaign as “appalling.”

“What they did was appalling. They carried things too far and I would not have tolerated it at all.”

“If I were the coach, I would definitely forget about them,” he stated unequivocably.

Mr Koufie, who currently chairs the GFA technical committee, hinted that he and his colleagues would meet next Wednesday to discuss Kwasi Appiah’s technical report and make the necessary recommendations to the FA.

In a stuttering tone, Mr Koufie wondered how on earth could Boateng verbally abuse the Stars coach as if he was his co-equal.

“Players are not supposed to think they are better than the coach. The shouldn’t forget the coach who is in charge of the team has also played before,” he cautioned.

He equally expressed disappointment at the manner in which a senior player such as Essien failed to warm up with his teammates ahead of the Portugal match.

“I don’t understand why Essien refused to warm up. In that case, why did he go to Brazil? he questioned.

“As for Muntari, I don’t know what came over him to do what he did,” the former FA boss said in apparent reference to the AC Milan midfielder’s altercation with Management Committee member, Moses Armah (aka Mospacka).

The octogenarian also thought that the Stars Management Committee, headed by Kwesi Nyantakyi, could have handled issues better than they did to save the nation from such embarrassment.

“I think the management committee wasn’t up to date with issues. Something obviously went missing.

He, however, gave the FA thumbs up for retaining Kwasi Appiah as the head of the senior national following his impressive performances from the qualifiers to date.

Mr Koufie referred to the spectacular manner in which Kwasi Appiah qualified the team to the World Cup, as well as the quality football displayed by the Stars in their first two Group G matches against USA and Germany as enough grounds to warrant his stay on the job.

He described the Stars as a young team which needs to be kept under the same coach to ensure stability and building of a formidable side in future.

Source: Graphic Sports

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