French World Cup-winner Marcel Desailly believes Ghana can capitalise on its all-round stability and emerge as one of the top football nations in the world.
"Today Ghana is the African country that everybody loves," Desailly told Gulf News.
"In the past it was Cameroon when they were doing well on the international stage with the likes of Roger Milla.
"After that Nigeria captured a bit of that attention, but now it looks like it's time for Ghana to be right there at the top of the football world."
Desailly was a guest of Barclays who have brought with them the Barclays Premier League trophy as part of a global tour that started off in Abu Dhabi last week. The trophy will visit Doha (April 14-16) and Riyadh (April 28-30) before heading to Hong Kong for the Barclays Asia Trophy in July.
"What is great for Ghana is that things have really combined so well with what is going on in the country," Desailly said. "At the political level we have democracy and stability and Ghana is seen as the best country in West Africa at the moment. Making his mark
"It is the most stable and the development too is steady. All signs are in favour of Ghana and football brings in the exposure and perhaps this is a combination that has raised the interest of the world and this helps develop the country."
Though born in Ghana, Desailly shifted to France where he made his mark as a footballer with clubs such as Nantes and Marseille, before moving on to Italian giants AC Milan and English club Chelsea. But the crowning moment of his career winning the 1998 World Cup with France.
Recently though Desailly has shifted back to his roots setting up the Lizzy Sports Complex in his native Ghana with first class coaching for children. Desailly's all-in-one complex has a spacious lounge, sports bar, grill, four grass football pitches, changing rooms, a swimming pool, table tennis and a multi-purpose hall for basketball, volleyball and taekwondo. Double culture
"I like this idea of double culture, Desailly said. "When I was in Europe I relied on my African roots to be strong and survive.
"And now that I am in Ghana I am trying to use the pragmatic approach of the Europeans to develop this new project and at the same time I want my kids to live the African experience."
The former French captain now expects the Black Stars to ride this wave of success and do well in the future.
"The image is there, the potential is there as also the tactical discipline," he said. "But the only thing that I feel is missing a bit is the sense of creativity. We only play counter-attack, we don't create.
"Today Egypt are the best team. We are hoping that Ghana get closer to them."