Ghana’s captain Andre Ayew, has reiterated that the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] will not be his last tournament for the West African side.
Ayew, 32, was sent off during the Black Stars’ 3-2 defeat to Comoros in the final Group C game on Tuesday night.
Addressing media after the game, the Al Sadd attacker was asked if the 33rd edition of the competition would be his last owing to Ghana’s failed expedition, Ayew said: “No, it is definitely not.”
The former Swansea City star is currently Ghana’s second most-capped player, he boasts of two silver medals achieved at Angola 2010 and Equatorial Guinea 2015 for his efforts in Africa’s biggest football competition.
Commenting further, the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup winner explained where Milovan Rajevac’s team got things wrong against the Afcon debutants while shifting his attention to the 2022 World Cup qualification play-off.
“We have played against them before and I think we let them score an early goal and after that until the red card, we had complete control of the game,” Ayew continued.
“We were in the final in 2010 and 2015 and in between them were semi-finals, so we have been on top for a very long time.
“We need to swallow the pill, stay calm to see what went wrong, and prepare because the World Cup play-off is coming quickly and we have to be ready for that.
“It’s football, we will go back to the drawing board and I hope that these young players are able to come out of this because they have a future.”
The son of the legendary Abedi Pele made his Afcon debut in 2008 when Ghana hosted the continent and finished third after they defeated Cote d’Ivoire 4-2 inside Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.