Prez Mahama: Prez Mills� Penalty Cry A Year Ago Was Prophetic

His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday said, what many believed to be a comic comment from Late President John Evans Atta Mills during his last State of the Nation Address has turn out to be �prophetic� after the Black Stars were eliminated through a penalty shoot-out to progress to the finals of the just ended 2013 AFCON in South Africa. According to the President, failure of the Black Stars to win the title which has remained elusive over the past 31-years was a painful experience. �A few weeks ago we had to endure the painful experience of missing out on our much cherish dream of winning our 5th Africa Cup of Nations tittle. Our Black Stars exited the just ended AFCON competition at the semi-final stage through a lottery of a penalty shootout. �I recall how almost a year ago our beloved late President Mills standing before this august house in his last sessional address urged our football authorities to take seriously the issue of penalty taking by our team, as it has often been our nemeses in major competitions. What many at the time appreciated as a humor comments turn out to be prophetic as the same problem came to hunt us at the just ended AFCON competition,� he stated. He called on the technical team and experts to train the Stars on penalty kicks so such disappointment will be the thin of the past. The Black Stars were eliminated in the just ended AFCON by Burkina Faso after a penalty shootout. The Stars, who played Mali in the third place position, ended the tournament without any medal after been tipped by soccer pundits to have won the AFCON.