Ex-Ghana goalkeeper Abukari Damba has revealed that the captaincy row before the final of the 1992 Nations Cup in Senegal cost the Black Stars a fifth Nations Cup trophy.
Substantive captain Abedi Pele was suspended for the final against Ivory Coast and there was a bit of confusion over who would be handed the armband.
Damba claims the decision to overlook senior players like Tony Yeboah and Frimpong Manso and hand the band to newcomer Tony Baffoe led to some disquiet in camp.
According to him, this affected productivity on the field although Ghana lost 11-10 on penalty shoot-outs after a 0-0 scoreline after regulation and extra time.
“Abedi Pele could not play in the finals and this question of who was going to captain [the team] became a big issue ahead of that game,” he told Joy FM.
“We had players like Anthony Yeboah who was also one of the oldest players in the team, Frimpong Manso was also there but the captain’s armband was given to Tony Baffoe and that became a big issue.
“Players frowned seriously and as a result of that they played less than 50 percent of their performance.”
Since 1992, Ghana came close again to winning the tournament at the 2010 finals in Angola but the young Black Stars set-up were beaten by an experienced Egypt side thanks to a late Mohammed Gedo goal.