Posted by Former Black Stars striker and member of the 1978 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winning team, Dan Owusu has bemoaned the country’s failure to honour promises made to players that won the AFCON that year.
The government prior to the AFCON in 1978 promised each member of the squad an estate should they succeed. The squad eventually won the trophy but the government was unable to fulfill the promise.
Members of the squad has since then expressed their disappointment at the government’s inability to fulfill the promise.
Other winning squads such as the 1963, the 1965, the 1982 winning squads have also suffered similar fate.
Ghana’s trophy drought has been attributed to numerous reasons, with some sect belonging to a school of thought that says the disappointed winning squads cursed the national team.
However, a member of the 1978 winning team Dan Owusu has debunked those claims, stating that God is punishing the country for failing to honour its heroes.
Dan Owusu also narrated his injury ordeal ahead of the AFCON.
“When we were preparing for the 1978 AFCON, we went to Ivory Coast for a four-nation tournament and I picked up an injury. Some metallic thing was put in my leg one week to the AFCON. I wasn’t given a pesewa as compensation”
“I played my heart out for the country but nothing was given to me. We were promised houses and other things but nothing came. We won the cup for the state so they should have honoured us but nothing happened. We haven’t cursed the country but God is not a fool”.
Although the government in 2014 presented the four AFCON winning squads a cheque of 1.7 million cedis ($540,000 US dollars) as compensation, the squads still remain dissatisfied.