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Forget about number of assistants: It’s the Cup that matters!
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In the course of the week, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) endorsed the engagement of Portuguese tactician – Patrick Greveraas, as second Assistant Coach for the senior national football team, Black Stars.
The move, we have been told, was at the behest of head coach of the team, CK Akonnor. It may sound quite weird, especially when we already have David Duncan serving as the first assistant to Akonnor.
Well, we understand that is what the Stars chief trainer himself bargained for. And, he was specific about the choice – an expatriate.
Seven months ago, too, came the appointment of German German Benhard Lippert as new Technical Director of the GFA.
There have been hordes of 64,000-dollar questions from Ghanaians as to what may have triggered the appointment of an additional assistant – and also the interrogation of the role of Duncan in the team.
Is it that Akonnor is not eliciting the requisite technical support from Duncan or thinks the first assistant does not have what it takes to complement his quest to drive the Stars to nirvana? That response lies in the bosom of Akonnor.
Importantly, however, the coaches must find a way of working as a team in order to achieve the desired result.
The 45-year-old Greveraas, a former PSV Youth Coach – and ex-Feyenoord assistant, is expected to use his expertise to bring some quality to bear on the technical team ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Indeed, the new deputy trainer is already in the country sharing ideas with his boss, as the Stars prepare to engage Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire on June 8 and June 12 respectively – in friendlies.
One does not really care about the number of coaches the FA wants to hire or bring on board (once they wield some class) to ensure Ghana wins the continental coronet. It is one trophy Ghana needs badly.
Many of the nation’s youth today are yet to witness Ghana lift the Nations Cup at the senior level. It is a disturbing phenomenon. It is a distressing lamentation!
Year-in-year-out, we swagger into the continental campaigns with blazing optimism only for our dreams to come crashing into smithereens! Indeed, the last time Ghana felt and held the trophy was in Libya 1982 – some 39 years ago!
It is as bewildering as pathetic!
A lot of theories have been propounded ostensibly to find out what had gone wrong all these years. Some say it had something to do with hard luck – Cote d’Ivoire having upstaged the Black Stars twice at the lotteries of penalty shoot-out (1992 and 2015), to win their only trophies.
We only hope we have learned some hard lessons going into Cameroon 2021. Well, there might be nothing wrong with beefing up our technical staff. The number does not really matter. What is most significant is the quality of players we bring on board. We need to see some serious-minded, supremely loyal, technically-gifted and patriotic guys making up the national team.
Again, it really does not matter the kind of technical assistant you dash in for. You can haul in the best technical brain, but that effort could be rendered feckless if not complemented with players who are all-too ready to fight on the pitch and deliver.
Already, Ghanaians have not been amused about the team since the calamitous Brazil 2014 World Cup tournament, and the players cannot afford to exacerbate matters.
We need to get players who are fully-loaded for bear, to die out of exhaustion on the pitch rather than give up – or throw their hands up in despair, when the going gets tough.
As we have seen in some previous Black Stars games, the thirst to grind the result sometimes typically goes missing. This must not be the case, this time around.
Ghanaians hate to see their Stars slump in defeat so effortlessly. Even in defeat, fastidious fans would still be fine to applaud the players, once they see them fight fiercely all through a game.
Our players must always be ready to fight; they must battle and hunger for the points once they don the national shirt.
They(players) can pretend not to care about their image; but they must always be reminded that the nation’s reputation matters – and should seek to safeguard it, anytime they plunge into action.
John Vigah
Accra Hearts of Oak and Dreams FC will headline Matchday 5 of the Ghana Premier League when the two sides meet at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium tomorrow, with both clubs seeking a result that could shape their early season campaign.
The encounter comes at a crucial moment for the two sides with the Phobians looking to recover from their first defeat of the campaign and Dreams still searching for their first victory after four matches.
The Rainbow lads started the season strongly but were beaten 1-0 by Karela United last weekend, while Dreams suffered a slim 1-0 defeat to Bechem United.
Hearts had earlier recorded impressive victories over Berekum Chelsea and Bibiani Gold Stars before drawing goalless with Bechem United, leaving the club with seven points from their opening four matches.
Their defeat at Karela United, however, means they will be under pressure to quickly return to winning ways against a Dreams side determined to make home advantage count.
Dreams, meanwhile, have endured a difficult beginning to the campaign and will see tomorrow’s fixture as an opportunity to change their fortunes.
The ‘Still Believe’ side have collected points from only their opening draws and are yet to register a victory, making the meeting with one of the country’s traditional giants an important test of their character.
Elsewhere, Vision FC will welcome Bibiani Gold Stars to the Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex today, with both teams looking to strengthen their positions.
Vision have shown encouraging form in the early stages, while Gold Stars will be seeking a response after suffering a 2-0 home defeat to newcomers Port City FC.
At the Debibi Presby Park, newly promoted Debibi United will face defending champions Medeama SC tomorrow.
Medeama finally opened their account with a convincing 4-1 victory over Basake Holy Stars and will be hoping that the result marks the beginning of a stronger title defence.
Port City FC will continue their impressive debut campaign when they host Bechem United at the Daasebere Boamah Darko II Park.
Basake Holy Stars will attempt to recover from their heavy defeat to Medeama when they host Berekum Chelsea at the Ampain AAK II Sports Arena.
Aduana FC will welcome Swedru All Blacks to the Nana Agyemang Badu I Park after producing one of the weekend’s most notable results last Sunday.
At the Kpando Stadium, Heart of Lions will host FC AshantiGold ’04 in another meeting between sides coming off victories.
FC Samartex 1996 will meanwhile welcome Young Apostles FC to the Nsenkyire Sports Arena, with the home side seeking to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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Tuesday, September 29, 2026 would go into the annals of Ghana football as one of the darkest days for the Black Stars.
In an AFCON 2027 qualifier against The Gambia, the Black Stars did not only break the hearts of the fans, but conceded a defeat that left followers with sleepless nights.
Coming from a Matchday 1 defeat to the Elephants of La Cote d’Ivoire in Bouake, the outcome of the second game against The Gambia was one that was non-negotiable.
It had the ability to spark a revival to contend for one of the slots for the next AFCON showpiece.
The Gambia is a formidable side but definitely, not one to have frustrated Ghanaians to watch in pain and awe the Black Stars lose a game from a winning position.
That is a possibility in the game of football but when the stakes are high in such cases, it becomes unacceptable to the fans.
And grievously has Carlos Queiroz answered the massive call for his resignation.
At his post-match press conference, he made it clear that bowing out was the easiest decision but insisted that would not solve the myriad problems facing the Black Stars.
For the coach to be fired two days after that declaration raises a lot of concerns as he seem to be aware of existing problems the FA may even not know.
Unfortunately, coaches over the years have always been sacrificial lambs in situations of this nature but when he talks about particular problems affecting the team, his sack leaves much to be desired.
That aside, it is important to also take another look at the country’s pool of players, both local and foreign based.
Some of us have been advocates for forming the Black Stars around the ever-present local players who may lack the skill, finesse and flamboyance believed to give the foreign based players the edge over their local counterparts.
The locals, however, compensate that with their commitment and dedication.
Sadly, it appears this consistent call have fallen on deaf ears and no one wants to give any attention to that.
If the fear is that results would be poor, then that would be no excuse again following outcomes of the Stars in their last two games.
From what was witnessed in Bouake and Accra, one can confidently boast that there isn’t much difference between the foreign based players and the locals.
If there is any, it would probably be the treatment given to the two sets of players.
The call on the FA now is to give major consideration to the local players. Any coach that sees no good in the local players must have no business handling the national team.
That does not also shut the door on the ‘foreigners’. We witnessed how the early 90s teams were beautifully blended to have a formidable team.
It is time the FA goes back to the basics. With the locals, there can be more camps, leading to improved cohesion. Any foreign based player invited must settle into the team quickly and make a difference. That is the only way to rescue the Black Stars from its free fall.
By Andrew Nortey
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