KEVIN'S RECALL IS NEEDLESS

The trip to Milan by the FA President Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi and the Assistant Coach of the Black Stars Kwasi Appiah to plead with Kevin Prince Boateng to return to the National Team is to say the least absurd. It was reported in the press days after Ghana and Nigeria played out a 0-0 drawn game at the Vicarage Road Stadium in England that Kevin Boateng was impressed upon to return to the fold of the very team which has made him who he is today.

Kevin Prince Boateng

I find it absolutely incomprehensible that he be given such preferential treatment. Even though Kevin has not publicly indicated that he will not feature for Ghana again, his demeanour smacks of someone who is bent on abandoning the National Team. It is in this vein that I find it offensive to the sensibilities of Ghanaians.

Kevin, and for that matter nobody should be made to hold the entire country to ransom no matter the circumstance. He couldn’t have exhibited such unacceptable behaviour to Germany should he have played for them no matter the animosity between himself and the coach.

Kevin Boateng has demonstrated that he decides which matches to play in the full glare of officialdom, this uncouth behaviour if not managed well can breed disaffection in our team. If he is not ready to play then so be it, nobody should be coerced to play for Ghana because even in the absence of himself and Michael Essien, the team managed to win silver at the Angola 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

It was the absence of others that made him get a place into the team, and his absence will surely enable others also get a chance to shine in the team. There are abundant talent of Ghanaian footballers both home and abroad who are ready to don the national jersey at any time so it remains a mystery to me that this gentleman is being treated with kid gloves whilst others have been dealt with severely in time past.

I have heard in certain quarters that Kevin Boateng’s behaviour is as a result of a disagreement with the Stars trainer Goran Stevanovic. Granted that this is true, couldn’t he have chosen a better alternative to address the issue? Certainly he cannot abstain from AC Milan’s matches just because he has a friction with the Manager, Missimiliano Allegri.

Mr. Nyantakyi and the FA must watch the way they interfere in such issues in the future because it has the tendency to create problems in the team. Players who have also made themselves “thin gods” in the team must also be careful because time is running out for them. A word to a wise is enough.