Ghanaians are calling for the head of Black Stars coach Kwesi Appiah following the team’s disappointing exit from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Striker Caleb Ekuban became the villain as Tunisia defeated Ghana 5-4 on penalties to advance to the quarter final of the tournament.
Immediately after the match, a campaign for the axing of Kwesi Appiah was launched on various social media platforms particularly Twitter with the hashtag DropThatCoach being dominant in the trending issues on that space.
The online campaign appears to resonate with the notion of majority of Ghanaians on the streets of Accra who believe that the game would not have travelled to penalty shootouts had Kwesi Appiah been expedient with his substitutions.
They accused the coach of allowing his vendetta against Asamoah Gyan to override the interest of the nation. They noted that Gyan’s arrival in the game gave the Stars the attacking impetus that they lacked in the second half of the match.
Another factor which they observed contributed to Ghana’s exit from the tournament is Kwesi Appiah demeanor and body language which they hold do not inspire and motivate the players.
“Tactically Kwesi Appiah is not good.He was poor throughout the tournament. You look at the Tunisians and you see that it’s not the players who won the game but the coach. He substituted a players and they scored, he substituted their goalie and brought on one who saved a penalty then it clearly shows that Kwesi Appiah is not a good coach. He should be sacked before he gets to Ghana”, he said.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents believe that Kwesi Appiah’s successor should be a white coach. They said that a white coach will command the respect of the players and have authority over the team.