Sampson Lamptey, who led Ghana to its fourth AFCON victory in 1982, has described his meeting with the late Jerry John Rawlings in a book.
They entered the 1982 AFCON finals with additional motivation, according to Sampson Lamptey, after learning from Jerry John Rawlings via the then-Sports Minister that the administration had a special package for them.
But instead of receiving a gift that would have changed their lives, the players who had fought valiantly to beat Libya in the finals only got a salute and a thank-you from Jerry John Rawlings, who was then the head of state.
“When we got to Libya, one Zara Yebo came to address us and disclosed the goodwill message of Rawlings to us.”
“He told us that Rawlings had promised us something significant if we won the cup.”
“His words encouraged us to win the tournament. However after we arrived in Ghana after winning the trophy, he only saluted us.”
“The administration had seized a number of cars at the state house so we thought they’d give us some. When we called him at Burma camp, he just said thank you,” Sampson Lamptey disclosed.
On March 19, 1982, the Black Stars won the Africa Cup of Nations in the northern region of Africa by defeating Libya 7-6 on penalties following a 1-1 stalemate in the regular-time match.
