Sudan’s National Men’s Football Team head coach James Kwesi Appiah, has spoken candidly about how his team is dealing with war in the Northeast African country.
The Ghana tactician has led Sudan to deliver an awe inspiring string of performances in this year’s CHAN to make it to the semifinals of the competition where only players who compete in their respective national leagues on the African contingent are eligible to compete.
Yet to lose a game in the competition, Sudan will play against Mauritania on Tuesday, August 26 at 14:30 GMT in the semifinals after beating Algeria 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
Despite these heroics, Sudan is dealing with a long running civil war that has led to a humanitarian crisis that has been branded as one of the worst in the world and the effect of the war has had its effect on the playing team.
“Most of the time, we receive messages that one of the boys has lost a relative but I always remind them: you are the ones who can bring smiles to your people. “
“Even when the fighting continues, when we play, sometimes the guns go silent for a week or two.”
“I tell the players to feel like they are Messi or Ronaldo. They should never belittle themselves. Wherever we play, whether we have supporters or not, we must see it as home. Football is one of the keys that can unlock such wars” Appiah said to CAF.
