Former Black Stars midfielder, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has revealed why they appointed Andre Dede Ayew as the captain for Ghana’s 2009 U-20 World Cup winning squad.
The son of the Maestro Abedi Pele was appointed as the captain for the Black Satellites during the Africa U-20 Championship in Rwanda and the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.
Ayew, the former Marseille youngster led the team to win the ultimate, becoming the first African country to lift the trophy after beating Brazil.
Ghana overcame the Seleção Sub-20 4-3 with ten men on penalties in the final of the Under-20 World Cup at the Cairo International Stadium.
Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, the former Berekum Arsenal and Kotoko player struck the winning spotkick in sudden death after substitute Maicon had spurned the chance to give Brazil their fifth title by placing his penalty over the crossbar.
Ghana fought manfully after the controversial first-half dismissal of Daniel Addo, taking the game to extra-time and then riding their luck in the shootout after 120 goalless minutes.
Goalkeeper Daniel Aygei kept Ghana in the game earlier in extra-time with a point-blank save from Maicon, who had been teed-up 10 yards out by Alex Teixeira’s cut-back.
Agyemang Badu disclosed that the entire team accepted Andre Ayew as the skipper based on his qualities and where he was coming from (Marseille).
The ex-Udinese midfielder also admitted that the current Black Stars captain was more influential to lead the team.
However, Ghana’s U20 FIFA World Cup winning coach, Sellas Tetteh, disclosed in a recent interview that the captain of his team at that time, Andre Ayew, was not part of his plans for the tournament in Egypt in 2009.
Ayew had captained the team to victory at the Africa U20 championship in Rwanda earlier that year.
Badu speaking in an interview with Kaninja and Agorohene on Original Tv’s Sports Punch Show stated, “He is a leader and I have a good relationship with him. Sometimes you might think the captain should go for someone who has been in the team for a long time.
“Dede was having the qualities at that time and the attention was on him because of his name.
“Being a captain is based on how the referees will see you and it is very important.
“Imagine I was in Berekum and he was in Marseille. The referees might sometimes respect him than me.
“The teams and his name count and because of his father the referees might sometimes be afraid of him.
“I told the team manager, the late Jordan Anagbla and the coaches to give the captain to him because he was more influential than me checking at where I was playing.
“I’m not timid but I wasn’t up to his level at that time and it will be difficult for me.
“You need to appoint someone whose status is high to lead the team. We supported him and we needed a leader like him although I was one of the oldest and the hardest players.
“I can sometimes bully them, take money from them whenever they are late but there was a respect.
“We all supported him, take decisions together,” Agyemang Badu disclosed.
