Afcon 2021: Ghana defender Djiku looks to World Cup motivation after Afcon pain

Ghana defender Alexander Djiku believes Black Stars must be spurred by the prestige of securing a place at the 2022 World Cup to pick themselves up from the disappointment of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The West Africans had a time to forget at the continental showpiece in Cameroon by their group stage elimination following a defeat to debutants Comoros in their last group game.

The Stars are set to return to action in two months when they play in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers.

"Words will certainly not be enough to erase the frustration," Djiku posted on social media after Ghana's poor campaign.

"We are disappointed and also sorry for our Ghanaian people to have failed at this stage of the competition.

"We must stay focused because qualifying for the World Cup must motivate us more than anything."

Having opened their Afcon with a 1-0 loss to Morocco, Ghana picked a point in their second group game following a 1-1 draw with Gabon.


On Tuesday, the Black Stars saw another disappointment by a 3-2 loss to Comoros, a result that left them bottom of the table.


Former Ghana playmaker Charles Taylor, meanwhile, blames the poor showing on an over-reliance on foreign-based players, snubbing Djiku from his list of a few exceptions.


“All those who play abroad, only four of them have more quality than those who play in the local league,” he told Silver FM.


“[Daniel] Amartey, [Daniel-Kofi] Kyereh, Partey [Partey] and Fatawu Issahaku are the only quality players in the squad. These are the boys who should be kept and blended with some serious local players.


“Nobody hates anybody because I was a better player than all those playing now. Playing in a foreign league doesn’t make you better than those who play here.


“The local players are better than those who came to represent us at the Afcon. They will say that they are not matured. I don’t know, if they sell maturity at Makola [market], we should go and buy some for the players."


Ghana will learn their opponent for the World Cup playoff on Saturday.