Joseph Paintsil, a forward for Ghana, has spoken out about the goal-bound incident involving captain Andre Ayew during the game against Gabon at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Al Sadd forward stopped the 24-year-old from getting a straightforward goal against The Panthers in the second group game for the Black Stars.
The game began with Andre Ayew scoring the first goal, and with barely two minutes remaining, Jim Allevinah equalized for Gabon.
Some Ghanaian soccer supporters blasted Andre Ayew for preventing the young Ghanaian attacker from scoring during the match.
In an interview with Accra-based station Happy FM, Paintsil said that Andre Ayew expressed regret to him after viewing a replay.
“I wont say I was disappointed. On the field you have to make a decision in a split second. I feel he didn’t see at the time but after the game he apologized to me”,
The former Tema Youth forward admitted it was very important to him to make his Black Stars debut at the 2021 AFCON.
“It was my first time playing for the Black Stars at the 2021 AFCON. I was happy representing Mother Ghana at such a big tournament”.
According to the former Ankaragucu forward, had Ghana played with 11 men, they may have advanced to the round of 16 in the 2021 AFCON.
“If we were more than 10 players we would have conquered Comoros. We were just unlucky at that tournament”.
Paintsil made 28 appearances during the previous season, recording three goals and two assists.
