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APPIAH NOT FIT TO PLAY FOR BLACK STARS A spade is a spade and never a big spoon. Truth is a bitter pill but when you muster courage and swallow it, you end up getting healed. Stephen �Tornado� Appiah must retire from the Black Stars as his time is over. That is the only open truth that can save the one time enforcer of the national team from the acrimony and ill will that he faces from Ghanaians now that he is forcing himself to be fit. In fact, it baffles me why Africans find it difficult accepting simple issues. Appiah has served Ghana for fifteen years now and has done so much; I don�t think Ghanaians will forget him so easily. He has contributed his quota to the development of Ghana football and will go down in history as the first captain of the Black Stars to have led the country to the World Cup. This is an achievement that players like Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah toiled for years but never attained. Nonetheless, great Ghanaian stars like Mohamed Polo, Ibrahim Sunday, Abdul Razak, and C.K Akunnor honourably said goodbye to the national teams when they realized that age was not on their side. Up till date such players have their image intact as they command the respect of all Ghanaians. Stephen Appiah should bow out graciously if he does not want to lose his leg. From the way he keeps limping in matches, it�s obvious the man is always playing through pain; that�s very dangerous. Even the legendary Marco Van Basten of Holland when he realized it was time to call it quits after a multiple of injuries, did not hesitate to do so. It is on record that some medical experts warned Appiah to give up on football after he suffered a serious injury which required multiple surgeries sometime back. Defying medical orders to me is very abnormal and the fact that the player is sweating to be part of the Ghana squad for the world cup leaves much to be desired. Among the myriad of reasons why Appiah needs to back out of the national team is that Ghanaians are not unaware that he is old and that old guards can�t play active football. In his days with Juventus in the Serie �A�, Stephen Appiah was a workaholic figure at the midfield and every coach wanted to have the gem in his team. We praised him when he was fit and active scoring great goals for the nation but what worries me is the captain we hold in the highest regard risks eroding the respect Ghanaians have for him if he goes to disgrace himself at the world cup. I don�t know whether you have observed Appiah and how he dodges tackles any time there is a fifty-fifty ball for the taking he keeps jumping over the ball just to avoid tackles. He is just afraid of another injury; always scared. Even now as I speak, the captain is injured again and he is praying assiduously to be fit again to go to Angola with the Black Stars. Maybe he thinks he needs to prove a point at the Nations Cup so as to stake a claim why he must be in South Africa but at his age any strenuous effort gives rise to injuries and that is the reason for different degrees of injuries every other day. He must relax . You know what? The world cup is a huge stage where the best players in the world assemble to showcase their talent and I would advice Stephen Appiah not to go and disgrace himself. When he had his chance, he took it so well in Germany 2006 and I think his time has expired. We like him for the services he has rendered to Ghana so far. Maybe old age might not be an issue but his fitness concerns make him an outcast for the world cup. Its good Ghana has found new talents in Kojo Asamoah and others who can fill the vacuum that will be created by Appiah�s exit. Appiah might be experienced but he lacks the stamina to make his experience count on the field. The small boys can run 90 minutes without getting tired. Let me tell you how some of our great players said goodbye to our national team. When many people believed that Abedi Pele could continue to play for Ghana at age 36, the soccer maestro himself knew that the time had come for him to retired and decided international football was over for him. No amount of persuasion could bring the decided Abedi back to the Black Stars. Tony Yeboah also realized it was time to stop playing football when age was not on his side; he did not wait for injuries to help him out. C.K Akunnor was even younger when he bowed out and felt he had served his due and concentrated on his club playing for the pieces he needed to gather for his pocket. Akunnors image is still intact. For the Polos, Mfums and Osei Kofi's of the past they knew it was purely a matter of service and not �do or die� case for them. At this point I would like to state that I would have wished that Appiah made it to the world cup but it is unfortunate he needs to retire as its clear his time is up. The Appiah we know is not what we see now. �Tornado� please doesn�t look at going to the world cup as a �do or die� affair. You are just not fit.