Black Stars captain Andre Ayew (Dede) has dedicated the 2-0 win over Sudan in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier to the late Ghanaian President, Jerry John Rawlings.
The former Ghanaian leader passed away on Thursday, hours before the team battled the Falcons of Jediane at the Cape Coast Stadium.
And the Swansea City star, who stole the show with two stupendous strikes, paid glowing tribute to the iconic and enigmatic former President.
He has dedicated the team’s win in honour of the former first gentleman of Ghana.
“I think we fought hard to get a win in honour of His Excellency J.J Rawlings. We know the history and his contribution to the growth of Ghana so the win is dedicated to him,” Ayew said
“These are hard times for the family but we wish them well. May God comfort and bless them,” he said.
Rawlings is said to have passed on at the nation’s premier hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Jerry Rawlings had been on admission at the hospital for about a week for an undisclosed ailment.
As a former Ghanaian military leader and subsequent politician, Rawlings led a military junta from 1981 until 1992.
He then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana from January 1993 to January 2001.
The late former President initially came to power as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup in 1979.
Before this, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the ruling military government in 1979, just five weeks before scheduled democratic elections were due to take place.
After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on December 31, 1981, as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC).
In 1992, Rawlings resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and became the first President of the Fourth Republic.
He was re-elected in 1996 for four more years. Rawlings was 73