‘Appiah Needs No Foreign Advisor’

Head coach of the Swiss national team, Ottmar Hitzfeld, has stirred up controversy after slamming perceived moves to secure for Black Stars coach, Kwasi Appiah, a foreign technical advisor or assistant ahead of Ghana’s World Cup campaign in Brazil.

Speaking to the Graphic Sports in Accra on Fools Day, April 1, last Tuesday after engaging key stakeholders of the game during a three-day working visit, Hitzfeld contended that seeking to import a foreign advisor or a technical assistant for the Stars coach could upset the unity of purpose and the philosophy that have sustained the team before and after qualification for the World Cup.

“I believe that the coach in the person of Kwasi Appiah managed Ghana’s qualification process with his own philosophy which should be sustained for the success of Ghana in Brazil.

If there are some people pushing for foreign assistant or advisor they must put a stop to it, because it won’t help very much,” he argued.

“If on the other hand it is the head coach himself who wants such an assistance, then he must be wary of this kind of additions to the technical team because it can disrupt the process. But the choice is his”, Hitzfeld stressed.

The 65-year-old German, famed as one of the greatest tacticians of the game after leading Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich to UEFA Champions League titles in 1997 and 2001 respectively, said African teams had a strong potential to reach the quarter-finals in Brazil, but achieving that feat would depend on how they would overcome their aptitude.