A former chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Ben Koufie, has advised Ghanaians to stop behaving as if the Black Stars are unbeatable, since the team is still an unfinished product.
He explained that the current Stars set-up was not the same as the team that excelled at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups and, therefore, needed time to grow into a winsome side.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic last Thursday, Mr Koufie, who doubles as the GFA Technical Committee chairman, said “Ghanaians should not behave as if we have arrived and therefore we should win every tournament.â€
“This is a new team; they haven’t reached anywhere. There is still work to be done in all the departments of the team,†he noted.
“We have a formidable team which should be kept and worked on over a period of time to transform it into a formidable side.â€
We have a long way to go. We must get down to work and keep working hard,†he stressed.
He said it was not fair to judge Coach Kwasi Appiah’s team by the successes of the two previous World Cups in Germany and South Africa since most of the players of that era such as Stephen Appiah, John Mensah, Hans Adu Sarpei, Matthew Amoah, John Paintsil, and others had all faded out.
He seized the opportunity to also urge soccer authorities to desist from raising the hopes of Ghanaians for the ultimate ahead of major tournaments such as the Africa Nations Cup and the FIFA World Cup.
“Officials should know how to talk in order not to put unnecessary pressure on themselves and the team which is still young,†he cautioned.
Source: Graphic Online.