Stephen Appiah: I won nothing as Black Stars captain

Former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah has stated that despite being celebrated as the first captain to lead the team to the World Cup, he is not accomplished. He said he did not win any trophy with the team which means his tenure as skipper of the team was not successful.

“I wish I won a trophy because saying Stephen Appiah captained us to the World Cup is not enough. I wish I won something that I can boast about,” he told Sompa TV.

Though he said not winning a trophy was a stain on his career with the national team, he said playing at the World Cup is a consolation. He cited former Wales international Ryan Giggs who won everything at the club level but didn’t feature at the World Cup as a reason for him to be content with the appearance at the World Cup.

“But at the end of the day, players like Ryan Giggs won every trophy in football but they get hurt when you remind them of not playing at the World Cup,” he noted. Because that is the ultimate and everyone wants to be there. I’m not saying we should have won the World Cup but we played a couple of African Cups and couldn’t win as well.”

Despite not winning, Apphiah said he dreams of the success of the team so that they can do what he and his colleagues failed to do. He pledged his continuous support for the team and is willing to help them achieve something for the country.

He added, “…we will still be there and support our brothers who are playing today. We will motivate them because, at the end of the day, we are all Ghanaians. Although we couldn’t win one, it doesn’t mean we have to be against them winning.”

Stephen Appiah led the Black Stars to its first-ever World Cup when the team debuted at the tournament in Germany in 2006. He then again led the team to South Africa in 2010 as the Black Stars achieved its best-ever performance after reaching the quarter-finals.