Black Stars Captain Andre Dede Ayew has urged young African footballers to keep going as success is only a hard work away.
For him, how long a footballer stays in the sport depends on themselves.
“As you’re growing older, you need to train more,” the FIFA U-20 World Cup winner told BBC in an interview published on Tuesday, February 11.
“It’s even harder to stop yourself from eating certain foods,” he added.
“We Africans, especially, like to eat good food. But at some point, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.”
Having made his debut as a teenager for the Black Stars, the 35-year-old is still available for selection though he has not be called up for once under Otto Addo in his second spell.
The captaincy has, therefore, made rotations among some key players including Ayew’s brother, Jordan.
His form for Le Havre in the French Ligue 1 in recent times, scoring against giants Olympique Marseille, has ignited talks of his return to the senior national team.
And he appears not to call time on his career anytime soon.
“I love what I’m doing, and I’m not ready to stop.”
Criticisms have come against him for some of his performances for the country and some of these, especially online, it is believed, influenced his snub by Coach Otto Addo.
But Andre Ayew seems to equip himself with the best approach to deal with social media criticism.
“It’s all about you, focusing on your job and what you have to do,” he said.
“Everything has a good and bad side so, sometimes, try to understand where the criticism comes from – it can help you. We play football for the people, especially in our country and continent where we love the game so much.
“But, today, if somebody is frustrated they can just write anything (online). That’s where we need to be strong and not pay attention to that sort of thing.
“You want to make the people happy, (but) when it’s just nonsense talk, push it away.
“With my experience, I just feel that you need to stay focused, listen to what the coaches and the analysts and the staff have to tell you. That’s where the real information comes from.”
