Juju in Ghana football has been a never ending topic with retired players making serious allegations during interviews.
Former Black Stars player Derek Boateng has revealed how the four-time African champions nearly abandoned the 2012 AFCON semifinal against Zambia.
According to Boateng's report of the events, the players declined to warm up because they believed current Black Stars captain Andre Ayew was utilizing magic powers to the Black Stars' disadvantage.
A discussion with Derek Boateng on GTV+'s Saving Our Passion show compelled the former Black Stars midfielder to provide a detailed account of what occurred before the game against Zambia, the 2012 AFCON champions.
“Before that game, we had 45 minutes to do the warm-up. The Zambians were on the field and we were also supposed to come out. Kwasi Appiah was the one to take us through the warm-up and he was standing at the entrance of the tunnel. I came on the field along with Jonathan Mensah or somebody else. We were standing and waiting for the rest of the players. Everyone was saying they will not go on the field first until Andre Ayew comes out,” Boateng said.
“For about 15 to 20 minutes, we were just standing there and without doing the warm-up. So the only warm-up we did in the game was for about 10 to 15 minutes. A lot of the players said they will not be the first to go on the field until Dede Ayew did.” he added.
“So you see some of them sitting on the toilet, some standing on the side, and some sitting. So it was very disturbing. Goran was the coach and he could not understand what was going on. So after the game, I heard a lot of voices. I flipped up and blasted everybody. After the game, Nyatankyi (the GFA President) came to me and asked me what happened and I told him what exactly happened.”
The midfielder also stated that the squad regretted their actions after the 1-0 loss to Zambia and that coach Goran appealed to football authorities to assist in changing the thoughts of players about using "black power"
“In the dressing room after the game, I saw that people are sitting down with regret. But why do you regret it when you knew what you were doing was not good? But it was not a club side, this was Ghana. It is not about you but it is about the whole nation. So it was disturbing some of the things that happened in camp and people don’t come out to talk about it. For me, it is what it is. We have finished our careers and I can say whatever I want to say. Nobody can stop me,” he summed up
“We all need to help in changing some players’ mentality about using ‘black power’ to destroy themselves, and also make sure we instill discipline and respect for each other,” he concluded.