The manager of the Ghana national football team, James Kwesi Appiah, has said that the defeat against USA in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2014 has come as a bit of a surprise for him.
Ghana lost its first match in the tournament by 1-2 yesterday. They had the stronger team on paper as compared to the United States and thus, people were backing them to secure at least one point from the match, but, it wasn’t to be. The American team, against the odds, pulled off a wonderful win.
Former Ghana captain Stephen Appiah has claimed that the black stars should be wary of the threat posed by Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup 2014. Ghana have been given one of the toughest groups at the competition. They will not only be coming up against former world champions Germany, but Portugal and the USA are the other opponents. All teams are expected to be in with a shout to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament. Ghana, though, are definitely inferior since they know not have recognised stars following the decline of Michael Essien.
Ghana Football Association's Randy Abbey claims that the nation's match with USA at the World Cup will hold key to their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition. Ghana have been given a tough draw at the World Cup 2014, as they will be up against Portugal, Germany, and the USA in the group stages.
Germany and Portugal are without doubt favourites to qualify for the knockout stages, thus leaving USA and Ghana to fight out.
Ghana's first match of the competition will be against USA.
Ghana have been given a tough group at the World Cup 2014, as they will be playing against Germany, Portugal, and the USA in the group stages.
Despite being one of the strongest African teams, this could jeopardise their chances of going to the knockout stages of the tournament. This is the feeling of AC Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari, who was on the scoresheet in the last two editions of the competition. The former Portsmouth man is regarded as one of the important members in the team following the absence of Michael Essien.
Ghana have been the best African team in the last two editions of the FIFA World Cup and they are once again expected to do well after the failure to win the recent African cup of nations.
Former captain Stephen Appiah has said that he is confident that the team can progress to the semifinals stage of the competition. No African team has reached the World Cup semifinals in recent times.
The best result they have achieved has been reaching the quarter-final stage, but quality has increased substantially within the African teams over the last decade.
Ghana will be learning their opponents for the final round of the World Cup qualifiers shortly. They are one of the five seeded nations that will take part in the draw. They could face seems like Cameroon and Ethiopia in the play-offs.
Even though they are one of the favourites to secure a place in the finals, Ghana are also aware of the fact that they would have a tough competition. Kwesi Appiah has said that he is ready to play against any of the opponents because he is confident of a victory.
To many Italians football is everything, the people of Italy are known to be emotional when it comes to their football. Watching their team week in and week out can be a very passionate experience for them. The new season is just about to start and with it comes months of highs and lows for all football fans in Italy. The past couple of seasons Juventus have been on top, showing that they are currently the best team in Italy by taking the title 2 years running.
The Ghana FA has been at the forefront of organising several coaching courses across the country and it is taking in effect on the domestic league according to national team manager Kwesi Appiah.
He has said that the quality of the Ghana Premier league has increased substantially over the last few years. Caf has also been assisting the Ghana FA in this department. They recently relocated four slots belonging to Ghana at the inter-club competitions in Africa. Ghana is currently rated as the second best team in Africa.
Ghana emerged as one of the powerful teams in Africa a few years ago due to the presence of players like Michael Essien.
However, due to various reasons most of the star players like Essien and Kevin Prince Boetang have not been featuring at the international level in the last few years. This has subsequently led to the reduction in quality at the national level, while results have also not been good as well. In this situation, national team manager Kwesi Appiah has said that he will be looking to bring back several stars back into the national team.
Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has said that he is extremely happy following the 4-0 win over Sudan in the recent World Cup qualifying match. Ghana came into the encounter three points behind the leaders Zambia in the table.
However, as a result of this victory coupled with the draw for Zambia, they have managed to close the gap to just one point. After the match, Appiah said that he was extremely happy with the way his team were tactically organised. Former Sunderland striker Gyan opened the scoring after just 90 min on the clock.