Minister for Youth and Sports Hon. Nii Lante Vanderpuje has attributed Ghana’s five-game winless streak to the absence of Juventus star Kwadwo Asamoah. Asamoah has been missing from the Black Stars line up for the past two years due to injury but made his presence felt while with the team during the 2010 AFCON and the World Cup in South Africa as well as the qualifiers for the 2014 world Cup and the tournament proper in Brazil. The sector Minister who was reacting to Ghana’s 2-0 defeat to Egypt, revealed the absence of some key players let us down and is hopeful of Ghana’s chances to securing another World Cup berth. "I think with the return of Kwadwo Asamoah and Asamoah Gyan in the next match [will help the team]. I think the absence of Kwadwo Asamoah is one of the reasons why we're having a difficulty: he's a game changer, he's been magnificent in all our World Cup qualifiers and I think he coming back into the team will be helpful, let's pray injury does not take away any of our regular Stars."
Nii Lante has been accused of antagonising the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and that has affected the Black Stars.
Going public with player bonuses, verbal exchanges with members of the FA, especially, president Kwesi Nyantakyi, denying the FA funds for 'indemnity payments' and calling for local players to be used for 'dead rubber' qualifiers are the chronicles of Nii Lante's supposed theatrics that has kept the football in this state. Despite of all these, Nii Lante is confident Ghana can make it for a fourth successive appearance at the mundial in 2018.