Andre Ayew has spoken of his despair at Ghana's penalty shootout defeat to Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup final on Sunday, telling L'Equipe: "I had never felt that."
Ghana went down 9-8 on spot-kicks after a 0-0 draw and Ayew, 25, was inconsolable on the pitch in Equatorial Guinea.
The Marseille player was also in the Black Stars' line-up when they were beaten by Egypt in the 2010 final, but said this year's defeat was a harder pill to swallow.
"I really believed we would do it, but I don't understand. It's not possible. I lost in 2010, and I had been disappointed, but here, it was really a degree more than that," he said.
"I'll be fine, but I had never felt that. It was hard -- very, very hard."
Avram Grant's men had looked set to pick up a fifth African Nations Cup, their first since 1982, when Ivory Coast missed their first two penalties in the shootout and the Ghanaians scored theirs.
However, they missed their next two and although Ayew later scored his, goalkeeper Razak Braimah was unable to score and was beaten by Ivorian counterpart Boubacar Barry with the decisive kick.
Ayew was consoled by opposing coach Herve Renard, and said: "I received loads of messages on my mobile with that photo and I didn't even know it was him who had taken me in his arms. It was nice of him to do that.
"I need to rest a little. I put so much into the competition."