By Fiifi Anaman
Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah is on the verge of becoming the first ever indigenous coach to qualify Ghana for a FIFA World Cup.
Appiah is just a match (second leg of the play-offs against the Pharaohs of Egypt) away from cementing Ghana’s place amongst 31 other elite nations to compete for the 20th FIFA World Cup in Brazil next summer. The feeling must be overwhelming, and there’s every temptation to hog all the glory as the main man in the spot light. But Appiah chooses otherwise.
“For me the most important thing is the nation,” Appiah told reporters in Instanbul — where the team have been camping — on Saturday evening. “I’m not looking at myself, I’m looking at Ghana qualifying for the World Cup. Fine its good that a Ghanaian has been given an opportunity, but the good thing about it is that I believe if any human being is given an opportunity to perform, and you do the best that’s within you you can achieve results. But it also goes down to the fact that a black man can also achieve something for the nation.”
With a 6-1 aggregate advantage going into the second leg of the play-off with Egypt in Cairo on Tuesday, Appiah’s Ghana, many have argued, are as good as in Brazil. But as cautious as he is, he’s warning against being complacent, and is sure the battle if far from over.
“I said in Ghana that we’ve played the first half of the competition and we’re now going in to play the second half. I’ve made the players aware that if they get unto that Egyptian pitch, they should go with the mentality that they’re even down by a goal or two and that they’re are fighting to redeem themselves from that. We’re going out there to play all out.
“Even though we won, we all know Egypt have got a very good team, no doubt about that. We’re not going to have this game that easy, but the most important thing — and I’ve always known — is that the best way to defend is to attack. We’re not going to go there and sit back.”
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He expressed his delight at the mood in camp, hailing the competitiveness as a factor that will propel the team to victory.
“I think if you look at our sessions, every player is fully committed and sometimes I’m even tempted to to close the session because it tends to become very competitive,” he began.
“The spirit in camp is very good. We are poised and looking forward to the game on Tuesday. Ive always believed that once you’ve got competitions in your team, that shows signs of a good team; everyone wants to pick up the jersey and play and looking at the team now, anyone who’s give the opportunity I believe will perform to satisfaction. I believe that we have a very good team and anyone whoever gets to wear the jersey will go out there and perform for the nation,” he added.
Appiah said he has not yet reached a final decision as to which 12 individuals will get the honour of starting the game in Cairo.
“They’re all fully prepared and for me, it doesn’t matter who starts. I cant tell who will start, considering the fact that we’ve got two more training sessions.
“The competition has always been so high, and sometimes I even find it difficult as to who to start. Against Egypt in Kumasi, it got to a point and I was like, ah, who should I even change?”
The gaffer also had some kind words for Africa’s first team to qualify for the World Cup next year. Nigeria beat Ethiopia 2-1 at home in Calabar to secure it’s place.
“Yeah, when we were having dinner, the President told me [about Nigeria's qualification],” Appiah said. “Big congratulations to them and to my friend [Stephen] Keshi. I’ve always been in contact with him and I’m very happy for him. We played together and we got more closer when we went for a conference in Egypt and we’ve become very close friends.”
Appiah also delved into the issue of tactics ahead of the game.
“Sometimes when people talk about tactics I laugh. Because you only talk about tactics when you look at the quality of players you’ve got. The quality of your players will determine the tactics you’ll employ at a particular time. And you also look at your opposing team and you set up to suit yours.”
He was quick to discuss Ghana’s much acclaimed prolific nature during the qualifiers; 24 goals scored in just seven games, the second highest in the World this qualifying campaign.
“The midfielders are doing well because they are feeding the strikers.We’re also lucky to have two striker who have really good pace on them and their striking power is also really high. Plus you can see most of our goals come from set-pieces, which shows that the set-pieces we’ve been learning [at training] has been helping,” he said.
“Blending the younger players with the older players has been the success base of the nation, Because when the younger ones are given the jersey, they go out and do so well and the seniors sit back and say, ‘hey, I also have to up my game,” Appiah added.
The game kicks off at 16:00 GMT on Tuesday.