The Technical Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Bernhard Lippert, believes the Black Stars might need to play more attractive football in order to be successful in their upcoming international assignments.
Despite qualifying for next year’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon, the Stars have faced a barrage of criticism over their style of play, which many have described as laboured and boring.
The Stars have won three games out of the six they have played with C.K Akonnor in charge, losing 3-0 to Mali in a friendly and 1-0 to Sudan in the AFCON qualifiers.
However, they have also beaten Qatar 5-1 in a friendly, Sudan 2-0 at home, and Sao Tome and Principe 3-1 in their final AFCON qualifier.
Notwithstanding these impressive victories, some fans and analysts remain unimpressed with the Stars’ play, stating that the quality of the opposition was a factor in those wins.
Others believe that it would be unfair to brush off those successes since the Black Stars are still coming to terms with recent managerial changes and the constant squad tweaks.
Mr Lippert, who has already spoken of a need to maintain a more stable squad ahead of the World Cup qualifiers and AFCON 2022 tournament, told Citi Sports exclusively that playing more attractive football could be the key to success for the Stars.
“We have to get used to [the players] and find a final squad, and we also have to establish this team. If we really want to qualify for the World Cup and be successful in the AFCON, we have to get a little bit more quality and we have to play more successful and maybe also more attractive football,” he said.
FIFA recently postponed the African qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar to September 2021.
The qualifying campaign was due to start in June 2021, but a statement from FIFA said they were forced to take the decision because of “the current disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure optimal playing conditions for all teams.”