Former Ghana Africa Cup of Nations- winning attacker Mohammed Polo believes the west Africans are unlikely to end their long wait for a trophy at the next continental gathering.

Four-time champions Ghana have endured a series of misses and disappointments since last time ruling the continent in Libya in 1982.

New Black Stars coach CK Akonnor, whose first game at the helm of affairs ended in a 3-0 loss to Mali in a friendly fixture last month, has been tasked to lead the team to success at the next tournament in Cameroon two years from now.

"To be frank, Ghana is not respected anymore on the continent. Mali scoring us 3-0 justifies what I am saying," Polo who helped Ghana win the Afcon title in 1978, told Bryt FM.

"Some years back, other countries had great respect for our game but as we speak it is no more because they are able to score us with ease.

“During our time, countries on the continent, especially the North Africans, had to cheat before they can score you. It is about time we started organizing ourselves well.

"I can emphasize North African countries are currently ruling the game on the continent.

“I think we are sleeping, a country that has been likened to Brazil. We had players that were compared to world-class players like [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi, and others.

"We need to start organizing ourselves if we want to win a trophy but for now I don’t think we can end the trophy drought anytime soon."

After the disappointing loss to Mali though, Akonnor and his payers bounced back with a 5-1 thrashing of Asian champions and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar in a second friendly tie.

The Black Stars return to action next week with a double-header header of games against Sudan in the 2022 Afcon qualifiers.

Their last appearance at the continental showpiece ended in heavy disappointment as a Round of 16 loss to Tunisia ensured Ghana failed to reach the quarter-final of the tournament for the first time since 2006.

In 2017, they reached the last four.