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Soccer News of Thursday, 10 July 2003

Source: BBC

Koufie is unhappy with Ziese

I opposed Ziese's appointment - Abedi
Ghana's failure to qualify for next year's Nations Cup finals may force the country's Football Association to fire national coach Bukhard Ziese.

The German has been heavily criticised for the Black Stars' humiliating 1-0 loss to Rwanda in Kigali last Sunday. The defeat cost Ghana a place at Tunisia 2004.

And GFA chairman Ben Koufie told BBC Sport in Accra that "radical decisions" will be made when his executive committe meets to decide Ziese's future.

"I have not been impressed with the result (in Kigali) and a number of other things since Ziese came," Koufie said.

"We finished bottom of a group with Rwanda and Uganda. That is very painful and radical decisions must be made so that we move forward.

Koufie said many players have not only complained about Ziese's management style, but also blame the German coach for the team's low morale.

But he warned that a decision on the future of the coach must be made carefully.

He said: "Sacking the coach may not solve the problems of Ghanaian football overnight."

The Black Stars arrived back in the country on Wednesday and were met at the airport by armed police. Ziese refused to speak to the media, saying he would only make a public statement after meeting GFA officials.

The former African Footballer of the Year and GFA member Abedi Pele suggested that they may have made a mistake in giving Ziese the job in the first place.

"I was one of the people who opposed the appointment of Ziese, not because I disliked him but because I thought he had been out of football management for too long.

"Now we must act quickly to get Ghanaian football back to the top."