Kwesi Appiah
Ex Black Stars trainer, Kwesi Appiah, says the quantum of pressure that comes with handling the senior national soccer team can send one to his grave before his time.
According to the former Asante Kotoko left back, the pressure in handling the Black Stars comes in various forms – personal interests of players, their agents, and members of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
In 2020, C.K. Akonnor replaced Appiah after his second stint in charge (currently heads Kenpong Football Academy’s technical team).
He told Untold Stories TV, “There are so many pressures you deal with at the National team level. Some with the GFA, clubs, agents, the players themselves coming with their egos, and so, if you don’t take a break, [and] you want to stay under this pressure, you will die.”
Appiah became the first local coach to qualify Ghana to the World Cup in 2014.
Nicknamed Mayeeley, he also coached the team at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, where Ghana finished fourth, as well as having a spell with Sudanese side, Al Khartoum.
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum