Ghana captured the hearts of Africa and beyond as they swaggered into the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ quarters with flashy football and funky goal celebrations. The frenzy they fashioned evaporated late into a shivery night at Soccer City. Asamoah Gyan was left in tears when his penalty in the dying embers of extra-time cannoned off the crossbar and denied the Black Stars a semi-final spot. He was not the only Ghanaian sobbing once that shootout had culminated in Sebastian Abreu cockily dinking Uruguay through.
James Kwesi Appiah witnessed the Ghanaian heartbreak first-hand, as an assistant to Serbian Milovan Rajevac, and in 2012 he assumed the reins himself – amid sizeable skeptisism. Yet the former Ghana defender has silenced critics of the appointment of an inexperienced, non-foreign coach by directing the four-time African champions to Brazil 2014 in emphatic style. Ghana, indeed, boasted the second-best record of the ten group winners behind Egypt, before thrashing the favoured Pharaohs 7-3 on aggregate to qualify.
FIFA.com caught up with Appiah to discuss how big football is in the country, his coaching style, South Africa 2010, Asamoah Gyan’s place among the world’s best strikers and why Ghana can shock the world in Brazil.