Former Ghana international Antony Baffoe has tipped the Black Stars to go past the group stage at the Fifa World Cup 2022 set to begin on Sunday, November 20 in Qatar.
Baffoe, who is in Kenya for a two-day African Football Business summit, said the World Cup group is tough for Ghana but it’s doable for the Black Stars who reached the quarterfinals of the global showpiece in South Africa in 2010.
“Black Stars have a good technical team, a talented squad, and the additional players from Ghana who were born abroad,” he said.
“We need to get our tactics right and I always believe we need a team behind the team. The federation has given the technical bench a free hand. They have done a lot of additions when it comes to fitness coaches and it goes even deep into science but by the end of the day the reality is on the pitch.”
Ghana, who missed the 2018 Fifa World Cup, is in Group H with Portugal, Korean Republic and Luis Suarez’s Uruguay as Baffoe insists it’s one game at a time.
“I believe if we get our act together, have unity and good organization we can do something. It’s not an easy group but by God’s grace, we’ll do everything to get to the next stage. Let’s get out of the group stage then we can talk again.”
Ghana played two friendlies in September, losing 3-0 to Brazil and beating Nicaragua 1-0. “We lost 3-0 to Brazil but I feel we did well in the second half tactically,” added Baffoe.
“Against Nicaragua, we did well, there’s still room for improvement but I know the technical team is meeting steadily to get the right starting XI first of all for the warm-up match against Switzerland and then the first match against Portugal in Qatar.”
Baffoe, who was capped 25 times by the Black Stars of Ghana, added that he was delighted by the fact that all five African countries at the Fifa World Cup will be coached by African coaches for the first time in history.
He asked the Football Kenya Federation and the government of Kenya to reach an agreement to have the Fifa suspension lifted.
“We also had a period, where we were under normalization, It’s important to get everything right in terms of government ethically. Kenyans love football, they need football, the government and football fraternity should come together for the sake of the game. I think Fifa and Caf are handling it. Let's see when we can come to Kenya again.”
The two-day Africa Football Business summit seeks to measure the development and growth of the football industry in Africa at the confederation, national association, league and club levels.
It will also provide a platform for business services with the opportunity to participate in panels and targeted workshops available during the conference.
“This is very crucial for people in different areas when it comes to high-performance technical matters, marketing, law, management, and sports management to come together and debate over things which are lacking domestically and partially in different parts of Africa,” he said.
