Brazil-bound Coach Kwasi Appiah has declared that the Black Stars of Ghana will be the surprise package in their third appearance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup next June as he opens his doors wide to enrich his team ahead of the tournament.
“I believe we've got a very good team so we only need to do a little work after which we will be ready to surprise the world', the elated Stars trainer told the Graphic Sports in an exclusive pre-departure interview at the Cairo Airport last Wednesday.
After making history as the only indigenous coach to lead Ghana to the Mundial in Cairo last Tuesday, the young unassuming helmsman assured that Ghana would be ready to surprise the world come June next year.
Kwasi Appiah, whose contract runs out after Brazil 2014, confessed that last Tuesday's 1-2 loss to the Pharaohs of Egypt in their return World Cup playoff tie exposed some loopholes in his team which need to be worked on before the World Cup preparations begin.
“The first half wasn't good for us but our aim was to soak the pressure and play on the counter. Our target was to get a win but the Egyptians also played very well and deserved to win. But we played our part very well to ensure qualification.
“The Egyptians made a lot of changes to the team which came to Ghana for the first leg, and as a coach that is the difficult part when you plan your strategy around a team you know only for things to change. When it happens like that you only have to adapt to stay in the game and that is exactly what we did,”
Appiah observed.
“Initially we struggled a bit and it was difficult to string passes together but things stabilised when I talked to them after the first half,' he explained how the Stars came back into the game in Tuesday's battle at the June 30 Air Defence Stadium in Cairo.
He said the fact that Egypt played better than Ghana meant “we have to work harder and patch up any loopholes before we play our first friendly game in preparation for the World Cup.”
Despite losing 1-2 to a transformed Egyptian side in front of a roaring home crowd, the Stars still confirmed their third consecutive World Cup booking via a 7-3 aggregate, making the one-time national team skipper the happiest man on earth.
“It's been great and I feel so happy to be part of the team that qualified the nation to the World Cup. The doors are not closed to other players who are also doing well,'” he hinted.
To that end the Stars coach headed for Kumasi yesterday to scout for talents at the ongoing WAFU competition after which he will go round to scout for other talented players nationwide and also travel to South Africa in January 2014 to watch the African Nations Championship (CHAN).
Reacting to speculations regarding the appointment of a technical director for the Stars, the soft-spoken coach maintained that as the man in charge his main focus was to prepare the team for Brazil.
“For now no one has discussed that with me so I will wait and concentrate on preparing the team for the World Cup. I have a contract that runs till the end of the WC,” Kwasi Appiah emphasised.
