President of the Ghana Coaches Association, Professor Mintah has said Ghanaian players need psychological training in the area of penalty shootout as most of these players turn to fumble when the game reaches that point.
Ghanaian teams have failed to win or progress in four penalty shootout in major tournaments this year involving the Black Stars, Black Stars B and the Black Meteors.
The Black Stars exited the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament on penalties as they lost to Tunisia in the Round of 16.
The Black Stars B also lost on penalties to Senegal in the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Championship, while the Black Meteors lost two penalty shoot-outs in the just ended U-23 Africa Cup of Nations staged in Egypt.
According to the former team psychologist for the Black Stars, these players are always under stress when going to take the penalty because of the fear and criticism they face if they miss the kick from the supporters.
“The player going to take the penalty is under stress, anxiety, everybody is expecting him to score. If he scores we win or if not we lose”, he told the media.
He further said, “So that player needs the psychological training and he has to practice those things at training and get the result so that when he goes into a match he will be able to apply it”.
There has been a proposal by the Ghana FA Executive Council to introduce penalty kicks in drawn games in the league as part of efforts to tackle the situation.