Accra, Jan 6 (IANS) Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan has promised a positive impact at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after Ghana’s football team settled its payment issue with the government.
He said Monday night prior to the departure to Spain for a 10- day training camp in Seville that all issues concerning their bonuses had been resolved with the relevant authorities, thus paving the way for the players to have a successful tournament in Equatorial Guinea later this month, reports Xinhua.
According to Gyan, who plays for Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, the team is “fighting” to avoid a repeat of the incident that occurred in Brazil where Ghana’s World Cup campaign was blighted by a dispute over players’ appearance fees.
The confusion forced the Ghanaian government to fly in excess of $3 million in a chartered plane to Brazil to pay the squad following their threat to boycott their final group match against Portugal if they did not receive their money.
“So far, I think the players are happy with the money issue and everything has been resolved,” Gyan said.
“We are not thinking about any money issue now. What we are thinking now is to go to Equatorial Guinea to die for the nation. We will play as Ghanaians and make sure that we deliver. What happened in Brazil will not happen again.”
Despite being drawn into a group which also has Senegal, South Africa and Algeria, Gyan believes the Black Stars has what it takes to qualify from the group and fight for the ultimate.
“We have to make sure that we approach the tournament positively to make sure that we qualify to the next stage. Ghanaians should not lose confidence in us,” said Gyan.
The Black Stars will open their campaign against Senegal Jan 19.
The 2015 AFCON kicks off Jan 17 and ends Feb 8.
