Ghana will surprise the world – Appiah

The Black Stars coach wants his charges to better their performance at the last World Cup and with “a very good bench” he believes the west Africans can “surprise the world”

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah is optimistic the Black Stars have what it takes to become the first African side to make it beyond the quarter-finals at the World Cup.

Ghana missed out on a semi-final berth at the 2010 edition in South Africa after a heartbreaking last-gasp penalty miss by striker Asamoah Gyan against Uruguay.

Appiah, who was then an assistant coach, believes “we have got very good players and as I said, any good team is a team that has a very good bench. I believe we will surprise the world [in Brazil].”

Speaking to Fifa’s official website, the “Silent Killer” was thankful he has committed and disciplined players in his setup. Appiah noted that the World Cup is “not going to be easy” but once his players continue to play “at high-class teams there won’t be any panic, the confidence levels are also high, and I have a very good bench as well.”

Appiah, the first black coach to qualify the Black Stars to the Mundial, said: “The good thing is, the calibre of players that we have at the moment, they all have total respect for me and I also have 200 per cent respect for them. They’ve been so competitive, very disciplined, and their willingness to die for the nation is really, really high compared to when I was the assistant in 2010.”

Ghana have been paired in same group with USA, Germany and Portugal.

goal.com