Andre Ayew not worried about Stars performances; says more work to be done

Black Stars captain, Andre Dede Ayew has conceded that the senior national team is far from the finished article, as the country nears a tough run of games, in search of a World Cup berth.

Following CK Akonnor’s appointment and the Black Stars performances in his first run of games, many Ghanaians have expressed worry about the country’s chances of qualifying for the global showpiece event, and Dede Ayew seems to share similar sentiments.

Nonetheless, he has expressed gratitude for the support the Black Stars have recently received, in a period that has been difficult times for the national team.

“Two good games v two top teams, lots of encouraging stuff but still more work to do to be ready for WCQ in September. Thanks for the support, we keep going,” the 31-year-old winger said in a tweet after the friendly with Cote d’Ivoire.

The Black Stars were scheduled to play the first set of their World Cup Qualifiers after the just-ended domestic seasons across Europe. In May, however, CAF postponed the games to September, October, and November of this year, as well as March 2022, over concerns with the coronavirus.

In place of the postponed games, the GFA organized two international friendlies with Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire to serve as preparatory games for the senior national team. The Black Stars lost the first to Morocco and only managed a draw with The Elephants in Cape Coast.

Despite concerns from the general public and media ahead of the country’s World Cup qualifiers, Dede Ayew believes the results from the friendly games are not justifications for concern.

“I think this [against Ivory Coast] was a different game and it was a friendly coming up. We know what’s ahead of us, some of us have played a lot of qualification games and we know what’s ahead and we will be ready, we are not worried.

“We will have wanted to win the two games but we are not worried,” the captain said in an interview.