Ex Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has revealed his players were least prepared for their final group game at the 2014 World Cup against Portugal due to chaos in camp over money and discipline issues.
The Black Stars players had refused to train for two sessions in protest of their delayed payment of appearance fees in the lead up to the game against Portugal which Ghana eventually lost 2-1.
The Ghana camp was also hit with disciplinary issues with Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng being thrown out of the camp on the morning of the game for engaging in several acts of indiscipline.
Kevin-Prince Boateng was sacked from the camo for insulting the coach on the training grounds after the game against Germany.
Action on the Schalke star was however delayed in anticipation he would show remorse which never came.
Sulley Muntari also physically abused a high ranking Ghana FA official on the eve of the game against Portugal to top it up.
Both players were issued their marching orders on the morning of the final group game.
Kwesi Appiah who was dismissed as coach of the Black Stars last week in a move the Ghana FA claims was mutual, says his preparations for the game against Portugal was massively disrupted by these off-field issues for which he wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the game.
“To be frank, for the Portugal game, the boys weren’t mentally prepared for the game,†he said on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana show.
“In the sense that, the attention of the players was on the money and then also the fight between Sulley and the management member also came. There was total chaos in the camp.
“For me, two days to a game is where you can do all you tactical training and all that so I was very worried.
“I knew it was definitely going to have an effect on our performance and it showed.
“You could see clearly that it wasn't the same Ghana that performed in the first two games that played against Portugal.â€