Former German trainer of the Black Stars, Burkhard Ziese, has lampooned Coach Fred Osam Duodu for what he perceived as the Ghanaian coach's inefficiency in taking control of affairs in the team's camp in Mali.

The German also took strong exceptions to an interview Coach Osam Duodu was alleged to have granted a foreign media prior to the Nations Cup that he deserved to be paid as a white coach.

This pronouncement was purely racist and beats one's imagination as to why Osam should even mention the white man at all. Couldn't he have made those demands before the tournament?" Burkhard Ziese quizzed. Coach Osam Duodu has since denied granting any interview relating to his emolument.

The ex-Black Stars' expatriate trainer made these remarks in a telephone chat with the 'Times Sports' over the weekend. He also relayed a goodwill message to the national team in Mali as they get set for a crucial game against Burkina Faso in Mopti on Wednesday.

Anything short of victory may spell the doom of the four-time Ghanaian African Champions whose outing at the 1998 Nations Cup was a first round exit. The Stallions of Burkina Faso are perilously trailing in Group 'B' with only a point from two games while Ghana and South Africa are on two points apiece; and the same number of points adrift leaders, Morocco.

Such a murky situation has pushed the Stars to a must-win edge to guarantee a quarterfinal berth - and that's Herculean. Speaking from his Germany - base on Monday, Coach Ziese, the man who guided the Stars to qualify for the Senegal '92 tournament after almost a decade in the 'wilderness', however, believes Ghana will scale through if they adopt the right approach.

When asked about the kind of approach Ghana must adopt to scale the Burkinabe threat, he remained evasive. " I am not in the driving seat at the moment so it's difficult for me to really talk about game plan."

"But since you mentioned approach it only meant that you would have loved it if the Stars adopted a particular strategy", was a subsequent 'Times Sports' question. To this, Burkhard Ziese managed to squeeze out another subtle response: "I would have changed the face of the team and made them more attacking-conscious".

"But more importantly, I wish the Stars well and pray they play well above themselves tomorrow in order to secure one of the two quarterfinal tickets in the group", he hoped. On the performance of the Stars, Coach Ziese asserted that: "The team is not playing to expectation because their preparation was not complete."

He recalled an assurance given by Coach Osam Duodu to the effect that the Stars will be playing between 15 to 18 trial matches before Mali 2002 in order to make them tournament- ready, "but he was not able to do that".

Burkhard Ziese expressed shock at the decision by Osam Duodu to expel Stars' deputy skipper Samuel Osei Kuffour on grounds of indiscipline. "It's really amazing but we have not known this trait", he noted, adding that even if the entire Stars team were indisciplined, it rests on the Coach to find a way of weaving around it."

The German trainer who is also famed in Ghanaian soccer circles for his 'no-nonsense' character, urged all to rally behind the Stars, in spite of whatever reservations they may have harbored for the team."