Local coaches are as good as foreign ones

Kumasi, Jan 23, GNA - Ghanaians have been advised to discard the notion that foreign coaches were better equipped to handle the national soccer team, the Black Stars than local coaches.

Mr Opoku Agyemang Prempeh, Managing Director of Lakayana Group of Companies, said that perception is not only misleading but also untenable, since local coaches have the same potential as their foreign counterparts and if they are even given the requisite support they could do much better than the expatriate coaches.

Speaking to the GNA Sports in Kumasi on Thursday on the benefits of engaging Ghanaian coaches to handle the Black Stars, he said instead of contracting foreign coaches to handle the national team, indigenous coaches should rather be given the support to take up the job. Mr Prempeh observed that even though at the moment local coaches are less motivated and have poor remuneration as compared to foreign coaches, they still measure up to the task like their foreign counterparts.

He therefore suggested that funds that would be used to engage the services of foreign coaches should rather be channeled into supporting the training of the local coaches abroad to enable them perform more creditably.

Touching on the caliber of players, Mr Prempeh said he was of the conviction that it was not the lack of motivation that was responsible for their poor performance but the lack of commitment on their will to die a little for the nation.

He therefore appealed to players of the national team to learn to sacrifice, exhibit much more patriotism and commit themselves fully to winning laurels for the nation during tournaments instead of always craving for monetary gains at the expense of the national interest.