• According to him he had no offer to play for Ghana at any point
• Veteran sports journalist Carl Tuffuor also confirmed Desailly's account
Former French international Marcel Desailly has revealed that he didn’t get any request from Ghana to represent the national team, the Black Stars when he was available.
The UEFA Champions League winner who started his career in France noted that he had only one option, and that was to play for France because no one offered him an alternative opportunity.
The 1998 FIFA World Cup winner stated that he found it baffling when people always questioned his decision to play for France instead of Ghana.
He said, “People always ask me why did I chose France over Ghana.”
Desailly who spoke on the August 7 edition of Joy FM's Sports Link program, explained, “You never had a choice when you grow up in Europe.
“Under 15, 17, 19 and 21 I was in the French national team, nobody identified me at that time for me to come and play for Ghana. I didn’t have that choice,” he added.
According to him, “I was already in the system. I got professional from 18, 19 and I got the opportunity to be in the French national team, there was no other choice. I was there in that system at that point.”
However, veteran sports journalist, Carl Tuffuor, who was a guest on the show explained that Ghanaians only knew of Seth, Desailly’s brother who was also a footballer. He added that after Seth's death, there was no follow up to find out if Marcel was as good as his brother.
Marcel Desailly won the 1998 FIFA World Cup with France