Stephen Appiah was top-class captain – Andre Ayew

Captain of the Black Stars, André Dede Ayew has intimated that former Captain Stephen Appiah exhibited great leadership skills during his tenure as captain of the national team.

“Stephen Appiah was top class as a leader. I was watching him a lot, spying him and I really took a lot from him. He knew how to deal with players, he knew how to motivate players,” he said.

According to Dede Ayew, Stephen Appiah was not only “marvelous on the field”, but possessed two other qualities which made him stand out from the rest.

“He was someone who had the charisma and the love for Ghanaians. On the pitch, he was marvelous but he had those two things and that gave him the power to be able to control everything that was happening in the squad,” he said.

Andre Ayew paid this glowing tribute to his former captain during an appearance on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Monday. He was sharing his experiences playing for the national team as well as his relationship with his predecessor captains.

Asked by host Winston Amoah what lessons he learned from working with them, he said he was highly inspired by their style of leadership, especially that of Stephen Appiah.

He intimated that although all three captains who preceded him had their unique style of leadership, Stephen Appiah was unmatched.

Speaking about the others, he said “John Mensah was also a different leader, he didn’t speak, he was always calm in his corner but he spoke on the pitch. His performance on the pitch will make you understand what he’s telling you and that was his style.

“He wasn’t a big talker, he was always calm and he had the respect from everyone. His pitch play was magnificent.

“Baby jet, on the other hand, was more jovial, more into the laughter side of ways. He had the ability to be able to interact with any player at any time due to the way he comported himself which is different from the two,” he said.

The player, born André Morgan Rami Ayew was named captain of the national team on May 24, 2019, following a meeting with the top brass of the Ghana Football Association Normalisation Committee.

He succeeded Asamoah Gyan who had been elevated to the position of General Captain.

Dede Ayew is a Ghanaian professional footballer who has played for a number of international football clubs including Marseille. He recently ended his contract with Swansea City Association Football Club. Dede Ayew was adjudged the ‘Player of the year’ at the Ghana Football Awards, held over the weekend.