Ghana’s AFCON struggles did not start with Gambia defeat - Dr Nyaho-Nyaho TamakloeÂ

Former Ghana Football Association chairman Dr Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe says the Black Stars current struggles are the result of a much longer decline, insisting the problems facing the national team did not begin with their latest defeat to Gambia.Ghana suffered a second successive defeat in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after surrendering a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 to Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium.The defeat extended Ghanas winless run in AFCON qualifying to eight matches and leaves the Black Stars with no points from their opening two Group C games.Ghana has not won the tournament in 44 fours and missed out on the last edition for the first time in 21 years.The latest setback has renewed concerns about the direction of the national team, but Tamakloe believes Ghana must look beyond the recent results to understand the roots of the problem.He pointed to the countrys failure to win the AFCON for more than four decades as evidence of a prolonged decline, despite Ghanas strong record in the competition in earlier years.I think first and foremost, we have to look at our failure for the past 40 years plus [of not winning an AFCON title, not just over the past few years], he said.Weve not been able to bring the cup to our shores here, and we have to find our home.Tamakloe said Ghana previously had structures that contributed to the national teams success and believes those factors need to be examined.We were picking this cup consistently for some time, and factors put in place at that time were factors that were really helping football, he added.