GHANA RECRUITS FORMER NATIONAL TEAM STARS IN TECHNICAL TEAM

African football powerhouse Ghana have named four former national team stars in a technical team to help the current crop of players.

The team is to be led by KwesiAppiah and it includes Ibrahim Tanko, Richard Kingston, Stephen Appiah and Maxwell Konadu. They are all set to join the backroom staff.

The announcement was made at the official unveiling of the new national team coach KwesiAppiah. He is to replace the former coach Avram Grant. Tanko, who used to feature for the Black Stars from 1996 until 2004, will be the first assistant while Konadu will also be assisting the head coach. Stephen Appiah would be the team’s technical coordinator.

The coach is returning to the team after he parted ways with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) three years back. He says he has learnt from his mistakes after he exited the side following disappointments after the 2014 World Cup. He promised not to repeat the mistakes at his unveiling.

The GFA president George Afriyie has asked Coach Appiah to deliver the 2019 AFCON title, among other things. He says he has to do very well in helping Ghana qualify for the World Cup next year.

Ghana have planned international fixtures against Mexico and USA on June 28 and July 1. They are to play Ethiopia in June for the 2019 AFCON qualifiers.

Coach Appiah told ESPN that he would chase after young, talented players in Europe, like Nigeria and Ivory Coast do. He agreed a two-year deal but wants to build a solid team with depth. He is targeting Manchester United youngster Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Bilbao’s Inaki Williams and Hamburg star Gideon Jung. Mensah is eligible to play for the Netherlands, Williams was born in Spain to a Ghanaian father while Jung was born in Germany to Ghanaian parents.