When Black Stars coach Otto Addo announced that West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus would be the team leader in the games against Sudan, eyebrows were unsurprisingly raised.
The reaction of shock to the announcement by Otto Addo was because, aside from Kudus not being a member of the known leadership core of the Black Stars, he certainly was not the most experienced member of the team.
The Black Stars leadership group, as known publicly, comprises Andre Ayew, Thomas Partey, Richard Ofori, and Alexandre Djiku in that order.
With the first three not being available, the honor should have fallen on Alexandre Djiku, who plies his trade with Fenerbahçe. Even if Djiku was not going to lead the team for some reason, Jordan Ayew, who has captained the team on a few occasions, should have been next in line.
Otto Addo, however, settled on Mohammed Kudus, stating that “Mohammed Kudus will captain the Black Stars against Sudan.”
Days after Ghana’s defeat to Sudan in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Monday, October 15, ace sports journalist Saddick Adams, alias Sports Obama, told what he described as the backstory to the strange decision by Otto Addo.
Sports Obama stated on Peace FM that Alexandre Djiku was bypassed as skipper because he allegedly peddled falsehoods.
“A lot of the players are not feeling good in the team. Partey’s case is a clear example. He’s the captain of the team, and he said he is uncomfortable being on a plane. It should tell you that there is discontent in the team.
“The deputy captain is Alexandre Djiku, and he played on Thursday. He should have been here on Friday for preparations, but he told Otto Addo that he had a game on Saturday, meanwhile, he didn’t have a game. Per my investigations, that is what compelled Otto Addo not to give him the captaincy. Djiku is supposed to be the deputy captain.
“Jordan Ayew’s anger is that Otto Addo did not inform him when he was going to give the captaincy to Kudus. He is the senior-most member of the team. In the game against Mali, Otto Addo spoke to Jordan and explained why he was going to start from the bench. Jordan came on and scored. But when he was passing on the captaincy from Partey, Djiku, Jordan, who is the senior-most player, should have been under consideration, but he didn’t inform him,” he said.
The Black Stars suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sudan at the Martyrs of February Stadium in Libya on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
Ahmed Hamed Mahmoud Mohammed and Yousif Yagoub scored the two goals for Sudan to defeat the Black Stars.
Owing to the results, the Black Stars are now third in the group with just two points, while Sudan is second with seven points.
Group leaders Angola have qualified with two matches to spare, having amassed twelve points from the first four matches.
The next round of matches will be played in November 2024.
Source: Ghanaweb