Ghana’s national team will be seeking a revival when Kwesi Appiah takes charge of the Black Stars for the second time from next month.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) re-appointed the former international defender as the coach of the Black Stars earlier this month.
The Black Stars have had mixed fortunes since the Appiah left the post just over two years ago with the tenure of previous coach Avram Grant ending in disappointment.
Appiah replaced the former Chelsea coach Grant who stepped down as coach after country’s massive disappointment at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. Even before he starts work the odds are out with many like Betin Kenya Promo Code predicting a huge success rate for Appiah in his second stint.
Despite being touted as one of the favourites, the Black Stars finished fourth which sparked calls for the return of Appiah.
The GFA resisted those calls until an interviewing process saw Appiah emerging top over experienced coaches Hugo Broos, the current Cameroon coach from Belgium, and Frenchman Willy Sagnol.
But Grant’s reign started in December 2014 with a lot of promise after helping the side to reach the final of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations only to be beaten on penalties by Ivory Coast.
The team’s fortunes look to have deteriorated under the Israeli coach with failures on several fronts including a tottering 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign after defeat to Egypt and a shocking home draw against Uganda.
The latter failures of Grant kept critics insisting that the team’s earlier success just four weeks after he had taken charge of the team for in December 2014 was as a result of Appiah’s hard work before he left the post.
Some of the criticisms levelled against Grant are that few talents were discovered under his reign, his selection was all too predictable while failing to pay attention to the local league.
Appiah will arrive in Ghana on Friday to start his two-year association with the Black Stars this time with much anticipation.
Appiah is expected to begin his second stint with the West Africans, two years after he was widely seen to have been sacrificed for the country’s 2014 wrecked World Cup campaign.
The 56-year-old will put pen-to-paper on the deal after agreeing personal terms with the Ghana FA before the former Al Khartoum Watani gaffer hits the ground running.
Appiah, who will also take charge of the national team for locally-based players, has been offered a two-year contract and will start work 1 May.
It is a second stint in charge of the Black Stars, Appiah – who led the Black Stars from 2012 until 2014 – will now have to inject massive competition in the squad.
There are many players who feel their places in the team are guaranteed and that must be challenged with the introduction of new players who will compete for places in the team.
Local players, commentators, team owners and also the GFA will also be observing which opportunities local players will get in the new Black Stars.
Appiah concept of creating local training camp for the home-based player to build a formidable Local Black Stars team will win him many hearts and get him the needed talents to create competition for the settled players in the team.
Since leaving the Black Stars following Ghana’s 2014 World Cup campaign, damaged by a bonus row, Appiah has been coaching Sudanese side Al Khartoum where he made huge strides amplifying with his supporters claims that the chaos in Brazil was not his fault.
The Black Stars, for the first time failed to get out of the group at the World Cup in 2014 as they were beset by off-field problems with players being expelled from the team and a row over pay.
In Appiah’s second coaching stint with the Black Stars, their first qualifier for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations is in June when they host Ethiopia.
They will also the other teams in Group F Sierra Leone and Kenya as only the group winners guaranteed a place in the tournament in Cameroon.
Appiah will also be trying to reach his second consecutive World Cup finals in Russia in 2018 in what is be a very difficult campaign.
That is because Ghana currently have just a single point from their two games so far in World Cup qualifiers leaving them five points behind Group E leaders Egypt.
Uganda and Congo-Brazzaville are the other two teams in the group.
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