The Sad Reality Is...

 Mawande says:

International football is not the pinnacle of the game anymore. Professional players don’t value it as much as they used to. This is a fact. You would only need to look at the number of professionals opting out of the international arena in order to prolong their domestic club careers in order to confirm this.



Ghana Anthem: Damn, I don't know the words to this song. 



There hasn’t been a retirement quite as contentious as Kevin-Prince Boateng’s from international football in recent memory. The German-born star opted to play for Ghana in the 2010 Fifa World Cup and went on to represent the Black Stars on 9 occasions. Why the fuss, you ask?

Well, the AC Milan striker is only 24 years old and rumblings around the game suggest that he used the Ghana national team as a platform to further his own career. Prior to the 2010 World Cup, Boateng signed for Italian club Genoa having previously turned out in the colours of hapless Portsmouth FC in the preceding season. Sterling performances at the World Cup saw AC Milan take an interest in him and the rest as they say is history!

Maybe I'd look better in stripes. White isn't my colour.



 So you kinda can see what the storm in this teacup is about right? Truth is Boateng opted for Ghana instead of Germany because he didn’t stand a chance of making the German world cup squad, good as he is. Boateng himself says he made the decision because he’s already had 6 knee surgeries in his short career and that AC Milan are involved in 4 competitions this year; he wants to be fit for the season’s duration. I just wonder if he would have made the same decision if he had represented Germany.



Hell Yeah! I'm the shit. Stripes are definitely my thang!

I was one of those who were unhappy when Prince announced his retirement from international football. I like him as a player and I thought he would be fantastic for Ghana. But the reality of it all is that international football in the professional age doesn’t have the same pull that it used to, Champions League football trumps the African Cup of Nations. But at the same time, disconcerting as this state of play may be, we cannot fault footballers from making a living and prolonging their careers in any way possible and if quitting international football to add 3 more years to that lucrative contract, so be it. Just that it’s a bit difficult to accept as a fan.