Avram Grant’s side were beaten 2-0 by eventual winners Cameroon in the semi-finals, with Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Christian Bassogog on target for the Indomitable Lions.

The Black Stars then suffered a late defeat to Burkina Faso in Saturday’s third place play-off, Alain Traore netting the game’s decisive goal with just a minute of normal time remaining.

After playing 90 minutes against Cameroon, Atsu entered the fray as a late substitute in the latter defeat, replacing Swansea City’s Jordan Ayew with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Though they have made it to the semi-finals six times on the bounce, Ghana have not won the competition since 1982.