SA coach waxes lyrical about ‘unbelievable talent’ in Ghana

Ghana assistant coach Roger De Sa has hailed the West African nation’s ability ahead of the World Cup in North America next month.

The former Orlando Pirates tactician has been serving as the Black Stars’ assistant following the appointment of Carlos Queiroz in April. The latter will lead Ghana at least until the end of the upcoming World Cup.

“There is so much natural talent in Ghana despite limited resources. As an African football lover, the talent here is unbelievable. You guys don’t know what you have with limited facilities and infrastructure,” De Sa said while on the Beyond The Whistle Podcast.

Read: CAF the next goal for ex-Bucs treble-winning coach

Ghana are in Group L of the global spectacle and face tough assignments against one of the pre-tournament favourites in England and 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia, as well as Panama. Currently ranked 74th in the world, they have struggled for consistency in international football in recent years since reaching their highs in the early 2010s.

Since famously reaching the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup, only to be denied a place in the semi-final due to a controversial Luis Suarez handball in their game against Uruguay, Ghana have failed to build upon that platform.

They were eliminated in the group stage of the 2021 and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments before failing to qualify for the 2025 edition, which concluded in Morocco back in January.

They also took the controversial decision to sack Otto Addo on the eve of the upcoming World Cup. De Sa and Queiroz will thus need to get the players in their final squad to quickly adapt to the tactics that they plan to use.

They will only have two games to prepare before their opening game against Panama in Toronto on June 17 as they play in warm-up games against Mexico on May 22 and then Wales on June 2.