I Am More Qualified For Black Stars Job: Kwasi Appiah Reveals

James Kwasi Appiah, the coach of the Black Stars, claims that one of the main reasons he applied was to dispel the myth that local coaches weren’t qualified for the role.

Despite the fact that his application was a last-minute decision, he claims that learning that over 60 coaches had applied for the position without a single Ghanaian inspired him to confront the current quo.

Coach Appiah, the first Ghanaian coach to qualify the Black Stars for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, said in an exclusive interview with Graphic Sports last Saturday that the idea that no Ghanaian could manage the Black Stars was nauseating and terrible.

The former Black Stars captain and coach believes he is better qualified for the extremely demanding position based on his recent modest contributions to the senior national team, including the historic manner in which he qualified Ghana for Brazil in 2014 by a 6-1 demolition of seven-time African champions Egypt in Kumasi on October 15, 2013.

Along with selecting Otto Addo and assistant coach Mas-ud Didi Dramani as his scouts for the Brazil 2014 World Cup, Kwasi Appiah is credited with leading the Black Stars to a 2-2 draw against eventual champions Germany in a game that the FIFA Technical Study Group named the best of the tournament.

He admitted that, after his second stint with the Black Stars ended in December 2019, he made the decision to take a break from football.

After Coach Otto Addo resigned from his position last month, he said it never occurred to him to change his mind—that is, until the Ghana Football Association (GFA) recently announced that over 60 coaches had applied for the position, but none were Ghanaians.

“Even though I had no intention of applying for the position, I later decided to do so just to correct the wrong impression that no local coach was qualified for the Black Stars job,” he explained.

“All along, I thought the GFA was headhunting for a new coach because I didn’t hear any announcement inviting applications from interested coaches.”

“So when I heard that many foreign coaches had already applied, I also decided to apply to put it on record that local coaches also have what it takes to handle the Black Stars,” he emphasized.