Former African Player of the Year Abdul Karim Razak says he is the right man to assist Frenchman Claude LeRoy as Ghana coach. LeRoy will be given a fresh two-year mandate when his current deal expires in June, but he will have to look for a new assistant following the appointment of his former assistant Sellas Tetteh to the national Under-20 job.

Razak, who assisted the Italian Guiseppe Dossena as Ghana coach in 2001, and is the current coach of Real Tamale United, says he is the logical choice for the job now.

“When I returned from Mali last year, I went over to the GFA and told them I wanted the job, that I am ready to work in the national team set-up,” he told KickOff. “Now that there is a vacancy, I think I should be given it.”

Razak has spent much of his coaching career in Mali with Stade Malien and has also coached in Burkina Faso, but it was his guidance of Kumasi Asante Kotoko to their first league title in a decade in 2003 that upped his status in Ghanaian coaching circles.

Razak, a Nations Cup winner with Ghana in 1978 and African Player of the Year the same year, says his club work coupled with his playing career should put him heads and shoulders above the other names in contention for the job.

“I had a great career; I played well for Ghana but more importantly I have been active in coaching at the highest level since quitting football. I have heard some names mentioned for the assistant coach’s job and their trump card has been a good playing career and coaching licences. But paper does not play football.

“The job of assisting LeRoy must go to someone who has proven themselves at club level.”