Sports
Ex Black Stars coach Renard hails Jordan Ayew’s progress
Two-time AFCON winner and former Black Stars trainer, Renard Herve, has described Ghana striker, Jordan Ayew as a promising striker capable of projecting the Black Stars and Africa on the global stage in future.
Renard, who managed the Crystal Palace striker at French club Sochaux in 2014 as a 22 year-old, hailed the player’s progress and described him as the future of the Black Stars.
“He is improving because it is not easy to play in the Premier League. He is working very hard. He is clever, doesn’t talk too much. Jordan is in my heart and I like his spirit. I am very sure from now till the end of his career; he will do a lot of great things.
He added that it was his wish to see Jordan and his senior brother Andre Ayew, win the AFCON before ending their careers because they deserved it.
Quizzed about taking charge of the Black Stars in the future, Renard who had a stint with the Stars as one of the assistants to Claude Le Roy in 2008 did not rule out that possibility.
“Coming to coach Ghana will be a fantastic challenge but no one knows tomorrow. Ghana was on top but now a little bit down. The potential, however, is still the same. One day it will be your management and government that have to decide if we want to bring this man”, stated the Frenchman.
Speaking to the local media, the former Black Stars trainer, Herve Renard, also welcomed a return to a coaching role on the continent, suggesting that he would relish an opportunity to coach in Africa again.
Renard, who won the 2012 and 2015 African Cup of Nations with Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire respectively, vacated his post in charge of Morocco’s Atlas Lions after a disappointing round of 16 exit to Benin at the 2019 AFCON.
But Renard who is now in charge of Saudi Arabia, welcomed another stint on the continent to which he has a longstanding attachment.
“I have a new challenge with Saudi Arabia and that is my focus. But of course I will come back to Africa one day to win something with a country, one that hasn’t won the AFCON for a very long time.
Sharing the formula for his AFCON success, Renard attributed his feat in African football to hard work and luck.
“I was a bit lucky but I also worked hard. It’s strange to have won the AFCON with two completely different teams.
“Luck plays a part in football but you have to provoke the luck. You build the luck. You have to build everything in football. If you don’t have good discipline, a good squad, a good bench, you can’t achieve that. For a tournament like the AFCON, it can be won from the bench because as a coach you sometimes have to understand things that players don’t.
BY NANA BENTSI ODURO
Otto Addo is taking a calm and focused approach to the World Cup after being drawn against England, Panama, and Croatia in Group L.
“I look forward to every game as special,” he told ghanafa.org.
“Very important for us that we don’t underrate any team. For sure, England is the favourite in that group,” he acknowledged. “But for me as a coach, to be honest, I’m looking at each and every game equally.”
Addo is particularly focused on getting a strong start against Panama. “I’m hoping that we have a good start against Panama, that will be very, very crucial,” he said. “It will make the other games a little bit more relaxed and easier for the players psychologically. We will use the window of March for test matches, and then see,” he said.
Despite being a young team, Addo is proud of his squad’s progress. “I think we did very well in the qualifiers ” he said. “We didn’t lose a single official game, like the qualifying games, we did very well. We just played one draw and the rest we won, so we had quite a good year in 2025, after a bad year in 2024’’.
“Even though we have a very young team, we really, really did well, had a good harmony in the team, good union,” he added.
Ghana will open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Panama in Toronto on June 17 before facing England and Croatia in the other Group L matches on June 23 and 27 respectively.
The unbeaten away run of Accra Hearts of Oak will be put to the test tomorrow when they visit the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale to play as guests of Karela United. Described as one of the top-liners of the weekend games, the match will pitch one of the best home teams against the best away team, with their records on the line.
After playing a pulsating 2-2 draw with Kumasi Asante Kotoko last week, league leaders Medeama SC return to their fortress, the TnA Stadium, to welcome Berekum Chelsea FC in a clash of former league winners. Medeama have struggled in recent times to hold their own against the ‘Bibires’, losing their last four games both home and away.
However, according to Head Coach of Medeama, Tanko Ibrahim, that sequence of results will come to an end tomorrow as they look to crawl out of the claws of their opponents with victory. Eleven points separate the sides, with Berekum Chelsea lying a distant 14th position on the log. They have been a pale shadow of themselves this season, and it remains to be seen if Coach Samuel Boadu’s side can keep the bragging rights over the Yellow and Mauves in what has been described as one of their worse starts to a league season.
Today, second-placed Kpando Heart of Lions will trek to the Kwame Kyei Sports Complex in Abrankese to play as guests of struggling Nations FC. Having suffered a 1-0 away loss to Basake Holy Stars in their last game, Nations FC would look to pick all three points to better their current 12th position.
In other games, the Hohoe Sports Stadium will come alive as new boys Hohoe United FC welcome Kumasi Asante Kotoko. The Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex in Tema will host the Vision FC versus Young Apostles FC game, the Tuba Astro Turf will host the Dreams FC versus Bechem United FC clash, while the Nsenkyire Sports Arena will host the Samartex FC versus Bibiani Gold Stars game. High-riding Aduana FC will sort things out with Basake Holy Stars at the Nana Agyeman Badu I Park in Dormaa.
By Raymond Ackumey
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