Abedi Pele recounts missing 1992 AFCON final

By Daniel ODURO, Accra

One of Africa’s greatest footballers, Abedi Ayew Pele has opened up about his inability to play in the finals of the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations after an accumulation of yellow cards ruled him out.

The Maestro as he is affectionately called during his recent trip to Ivory Coast stated that missing the 1992 AFCON Final hasn’t affected him at all but is happy he got to win the competition in his career.

The Maestro who was Ghana’s talismanic man said he understand that if he was on the pitch, the Black Stars would have had a better chance of winning another AFCON.

Ghana lost on penalties to Cote D’Ivoire to miss out on winning the AFCON for the fifth time while Cote D’Ivoire picked up its first ever AFCON title.

Abedi was speaking at CAF’s AFCON Winning Captains Roundtable before the 2023 AFCON final game between Nigeria and host nation Cote D’Ivoire.

Despite missing out on a second AFCON title win, Abedi Pele stated his career wasn’t affected by the final absence.

“I am not the only great player that it has happened to.  Two yellow cards in a semifinal match and I couldn’t play in the final but it hasn’t affected me at all. For Ghana, it was a serious disappointment I couldn’t play in the final.”

“Onwards, things have been well but I haven’t been affected by that defeat. In my career, I had the opportunity to win one AFCON so I am so happy and I thank God for it.”

Abedi Pele was part of the 1982 Black Stars squad that won Ghana’s fourth AFCON title.

Ghana has since come close to winning the tournament twice but lost both the 2010 and 2015 finals to Egypt and Ivory Coast respectively.

The Black Stars have struggled to win the tournament again and have now gone more than 40 years since the last won it in Libya in 1982.