It was indeed a disappointing night for Ghana at the 2016 Caf Awards held in Abuja, Nigeria on Thursday.
With three nominees vying for two awards, Ghanaian representatives came away with nothing, reiterating what has been described as a “bad football year” by their own standards.
Even before the event could get off the ground, the Black Queens were cut off from the initial list of four nominees for the Women’s Team of the Year gong.
Team captain Elizabeth Addo went searching for the Women’s Player of the Year at the gala proper. The three-goal scorer at the 2016 Women’s Afcon faced competition from Cameroon’s Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene and Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala, who eventually won the award for the second time.
As it turned out, she was left crestfallen, dejected and blue, not least because she failed to land a ticket to fly to Nigeria for the ceremony to start with. On social media, she counted her tears.
There were two Ghanaian faces in the Youth Player of the Year category. Under-17 captain Eric Ayiah made the cut as did women’s under-17 and under-20 striker Sandra Owusu-Ansah.
Ayiah led the Black Starlets to qualify for the 2017 Under-17 Afcon, while Owusu-Ansah netted twice and once at the 2016 Women’s Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups respectively.
Eventually, the award went to Nigeria and Arsenals Alex Iwobi.
Ghana also failed to have a representation in the Africa Finest XI. The fact that there was even no consolation among the list of substitutes was simply up the creek without a paddle.
At the 2015 award, Ghana’s Charles Kumi Gyamfi was handed the African Legend Award, while deputy Black Stars skipper Andre Ayew made the Africa Finest XI.
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