Since beating Libya 7-6 on penalties to win its fourth Africa Cup of Nations title in 1982, Ghana has made unsuccessful attempts to win the continents’ biggest trophy.

The Black Stars have come close to winning the cup, notably in 1992, 2010 and 2015 when the team got to the finals only to lose out to Ivory Coast in 1992 and 2015 and to Egypt in 2010.

Six (6) semi-finals in the last decade is what the Black Stars boast of despite the huge investment made by successive governments into the team.

One of the reasons usually ascribed to Ghana’s failure to lift the Africa Cup is an alleged curse invoked on the team by some former footballers who won trophies for the country but did not enjoy the promises made to them by the government. But if the latest utterance by a member of the Retired National Footballers of Ghana is anything to go by then Ghana’s wait for a trophy could end in 2019.

Speaking at an event to unveil a partnership between Ashfoam Ghana and Kwesi Appiah Foundation, Reverend Osei Kofi commended the head coach of the Black Stars for his commitment to the well-being of the ex-footballers and appealed to God to reward to Kwesi Appiah’s benevolent gestures with the 2019 AFCON.

“We have been losing matches we shouldn’t lose. 2017 was the easiest year for Ghana to qualify but we didn’t. We lost 6 matches at home because we drew 3 matches at home. I think what Ashfoam has done will help Kwesi Appiah. He is working towards 2019 AFCON. If I want to talk, I will say what I shouldn’t have said. So my appreciation goes to the press. When we saw you here we surprised.

What will happen today, we’ll lend our prayers to the national team wherever they are going so that for the 36 years that we have not been able to win the AFCON, for the first time Africa Cup will come to Ghana”, he prayed.

The other retired footballers present at the meeting nodded to the prayers, signalling their approval of Osei Kofi’s utterances.

Ghana will be hoping for a second straight victory after beginning their 2017 AFCON qualifying campaign with a 5-0 win over Ethiopia when they meet Kenya next month.

Sierra Leone are the fourth team in qualifying Group F with the top two sides progressing to the finals in Cameroon in 2019.