Derek Boateng backs under-fire Afena-Gyan for rejecting Black Meteors call-up

Former Ghana midfielder, Derek Boateng has defended Felix Afena-Gyan’s decision to decline an invitation to join the Ghana U-23 team for their qualifier against Algeria.

Ibrahim Tanko included the Cremonese attacker in his 26-man squad for the game against the North African side in the 2023 CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

After the game at the Baba Yara Stadium, Tanko revealed that the 22-year-old was part of his squad for the game but his management informed him he was not ready.

Despite his refusal, Ghana recorded a 2-1 aggregate scoreline to qualify for the tournament that will be hosted in Morocco in June this year.

However, it has been suggested that the player’s decision was influenced by his failure to make it onto the World Cup squad, despite playing a critical role in Ghana’s matches against Nigeria.

“Ghanaians have not been fair to that boy, so I support his decision to decline an invitation. Football is no longer about going to the field and performing a lot of things that people don’t care about and only blame players for not performing," Boateng told Asempa FM.

“Because football is all about the brain, you can never perform if you don’t have a good mindset. He was our best player in both of our games against Nigeria. Because we were playing one top, he was the player who was fighting four Nigerian defenders.

“He tried everything, we qualified for the World Cup and they didn’t invite him, and now they want him for under 23 and his management says he isn’t ready,” the former Getafe midfielder added.

The Black Meteors after qualifying to the AFCON will hope to have the players available for the tournament as they chance a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games.