Black Stars Coach James Kwesi Appiah is not placing much premium on the Stars’ otherwise impressive 6:1 showing in their “Farewell” match against a local select side Friday night.
Goals by Christian Atsu (3), Jordan Ayew, Albert Adomah and Sulley Ali Muntari left good impressions on fans, but Kwesi Appiah said the team made too many mistakes that need correction before the next game.
The Stars next play The Netherlands on May 31 in another pre-World Cup warm-up, and Coach Appiah insisted no player has a guaranteed place in his team and that anything could happen.
The Black Stars were a great delight to watch, especially in the first half where they pounded the locals, scoring as many as five goals. But it was the second half that saw the locals turn the heat on the professionals, yielding them a penalty converted neatly by Bright Adjei.
That consolation and the slowing down of the Stars in the half, saw the sizeable spectators, among them Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur and former President Jerry Rawlings, switch support for the locals who threatened a couple of times to add to their solitary goal but it was Sulley Ali Muntari who unleashed his trademark left-footed shot from 30 meters after Asamoah Gyan was appended to bring the haul to six.
“Well this is a farewell game; I’m not actually using this to assess any player. It’s one of our training sessions for me, he told Yaw Ampofo Ankrah in a post-match interview.
But you must be happy all the same, Yaw chipped in, to which Appiah said the good thing is that it offered the opportunity to observe the players and to correct their mistakes. And in spite of his low profile rating of the exercise, Appiah admitted the Stars performance wasn’t that bad.
His opposite number, Coach Hubert Addo whose team was a hurriedly assembled one, agreed the result was a fair reflection of the game and was full of praise for the Black Stars. He said they showed themselves true professionals – they were very fast, tactically disciplined, moved the ball at a faster pace, had more speed and looked fitter than the locals. If anybody required explanations why Appiah did not include locally based upfield players in his Black Stars squad, the evidence was there, he said.
Sulley Ali Muntari said the players were ready to go have fun in Brazil, seeing that morale in camp was high. But he is also aware the Black Stars would be playing some of the tough sides in the World Cup group matches but said he and his colleagues were ready to do their best.
Listen to Coaches Hubert Addo and Kwesi Appiah as well as Sulley Muntari in the attached audio.
{mp3}sulley Muntari not tired{/mp3}
