Former Ghana defender John Painstil says he sometimes wonder if he is the person Ghanaians consider as being one of the best players to have represented the senior national team, Black Stars because he never dreamt of donning the national colours.
“Honestly speaking l never dreamt of playing for the senior national team,” he said.
Paintsil is highly-regarded in the four-time African champions country after a tremendous career with the Black Stars.
He was handed his debut Black Stars call up in 2001 and went on to make a total of 89 appearances before hanging his boots in 2013.
The right-back contributed greatly to the team’s first-ever World Cup qualification in 2006.
He also played a vital role in Black Stars impressive run at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where Ghana reached the quarter-final, becoming only the third African country.
He was part of the Black Stars team that won bronze at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Ghana.
Paintsil aside from the Black Stars was a member of the Black Satellites team that placed second in the 2001 World Youth Championship (now FIFA U-20 World Cup), losing to hosts Argentina in the final.
Paintsil started his playing career at Berekum Arsenal before joining Liberty Professionals, where he got the breakthrough by attracting interest from clubs overseas.