Pressure in Black Stars can kill – Kwasi Appiah

Former Black Stars head coach Kwasi Appiah has remarked that managing the national team comes with a lot of pressure that can be overwhelming, and that he would not recommend anyone to take on that post.

The 61-year-old has two stints as head coach of the senior national team, the most recent of which ended when his side was eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

“There are so many pressures you deal with at the National team level. Some with the GFA, clubs, agents, the players themselves coming with their egos and so if you don’t take a break [and] you want to stay under this pressure, you will die,” he said on Untold Stories TV GH, a YouTube channel.

He added that concentrating on other things became really challenging during those periods.

“When I used to be up there, as I am sitting with you now chatting, my mind will be somewhere else. You don’t have the time to concentrate on the things around you.”

“You are always planning tactics and how to beat an opponent. It’s not something I will advise someone to get there. People sometimes think the National team is easy and they can just walk in there, the pressure in it is not advisable.”

Appiah is now the head coach of Kenpong Football Academy where he now nurtures young talents.