An outstanding performance by the local Black Stars against their Nigerian counterpart in the 2017 WAFU Cup of Nations finals has vindicated head coach, Maxwell Konadu who has suffered criticisms from Ghanaians.

Many Ghanaian football fans have questioned the technical capability of Konadu, following his failure to qualify Ghana to the African Championship for the second consecutive time. The Stars were eliminated by neighbours, Burkina Faso, at the Baba Yara Sports stadium last month.

Notwithstanding the constant criticisms, Maxwell Konadu’s Black Stars thrashed Nigeria by a whopping 4-1 margin at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium to successfully defend the trophy they won four years ago.

Enos Kwame Adepa, former Coach of Wa All Stars, in an interview with GNA Sports said, Ghanaians must appreciate Maxwell Konadu’s performance in the WAFU Cup of nations, saying that, his colleague has proven himself after such a scintillating victory over Nigeria on Sunday.

“We must commend Maxwell Konadu’s performance in the competition, it was clear that his players’ kept on improving match after match, which was great.

“Ghanaians have criticised him for failing to qualify for the African Championships but I think lack of preparation caused our exit, now he was won a trophy we all wanted and I think he deserves credit from Ghanaians,” Coach Adepa told the GNA

Meanwhile, Maxwell Konadu, in a post-match press conference, said the Stars performance against Nigeria in the final wasn’t necessarily to vindicate himself, but rather to pacify Ghanaians, “who were disappointed in us for not qualifying to the 2018 African Championships”.

“We came into this tournament with so much pressure because of our performance against Burkina Faso in Kumasi. We became very dejected because we let the country down at a crucial moment.

“We had a lengthy talk and agreed to work hard and win this competition to appease Ghanaians, this was the only chance for us. We couldn’t have accepted anything else aside from the win and I am very happy we achieved that,” said Konadu.


GNA