John Paintsil Shares How He Got Close to Winning the English Premier League With Fulham
- The English Premier League trophy arrived in Ghana over the weekend for a trophy tour in Accra
- Former star John Paintsil and John Mensah were the high profile personalities to receive the gong
- Paintsil and Mensah, who played for many for the Black Stars, had spells in the Premier League with different clubs
Former Ghana defender John Paintsil and ex-teammate John Mensah, who played in the English Premier League, welcomed the trophy following its arrival in Ghana.
Painstil, one of the few Ghanaians to play for more than one club in England, enjoyed a decent career in the English topflight, where he played West Ham United, Fulham and Leicester City.
The 43-year-old was part of the Fulham team that reached the final of the Europa League in 2010.
Source: Getty Images
According to the assistant coach of the Black Stars, seeing the trophy was the closest he has gotten to the title.
However, he jokingly added finishing eight in the league was near to winning the league for Fulham.
"I am very happy to at least witness this. Even when I use to play in England, I never got close to it and now it is in Ghana. Fortunately, I was playing for Fulham, West Ham and Leicester and I was a bit close when Fulham finished in top 8," he joked, as quoted by Ghana Soccernet.
"I am happy the trophy is back home, the motherland, which our people, who love the English Premier League will come watch two games and have the opportunity to take pictures with the title," he added.
Mensah delighted with EPL experience
John Mensah shared his experience playing in the most popular football league in the world.
Source: Getty Images
The former Black Stars centre-back and captain spent two season at Sunderland, playing on loan from French giants Olympique Lyonnais.
He made 34 league appearances, scoring a goal for the Black Cats between 2009 to 2011.
"It is really great. I am very happy to see this trophy. In fact, I could have won some of the trophies but as I said earlier, I was on loan at Sunderland. I fought hard to help the club so we could be the first to win the Premier League," said the defender.
"To play in the Premier League in fantastic. I really enjoyed my time in England."
Mensah enjoyed a successful career with the Black Stars of Ghana, making 86 appearances for the national team.
He was part of the team that first qualified Ghana to the FIFA World Cup in 2006 in Germany.
Black Stars open camp in Accra
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that Ghana coach Otto Addo will open camp today as the Black Stars begin preparations ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later this week.
The Black Stars return to action for the first time since the team's disastrous Africa Cup of Nations qualifying run ended in November last year.
Ghana will engage Chad and Madagascar in must-win games as the former African champions eye a return to the global showpiece in the United States, Mexico and Canada next year.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
