Kwasi Appiah committed to Kenpong Football Academy project despite Black Stars appeal

Former Black Stars coach Kwasi Appiah has affirmed his commitment to Kenpong Football Academy with the revelation that he finds joy in his role as the head coach of the side.

Kwasi Appiah says he is relishing every minute of his time there as he strives with other members of the technical team of Kenpong Football Academy to raise the generation of Ghanaian football stars.

Speaking on Untold Stories, Kwasi Appiah said he feels fulfilled as a coach Kenpong Football Academy and will not swap that role for anything including the Black Stars job.

In what was a positive appraisal of the support from celebrated Ghanaian entrepreneur Kenpong who is the owner of Kenpong Football Academy, Kwasi Appiah stated that he has been provided with the resources and personnel to discharge his duties effectively.

He claims to having the best of motivation and assistance from Kenpong to work hence his lack of interest in any other club.

“I have been a player and I have been a coach, for me to coach at the World Cup level what do I need again,” the former Black Stars coach said.

“It’s good to impact knowledge and for me being at Kenpong Academy, I love it more than up there. Because up there you do the best that you can, those who are coming to compete against you are also coming to do their best,” he stated.

Kwasi Appiah who led Ghana to the 2014 World Cup, stated that he could have achieved history with the Black Stars if he was in charge of the team in 2010.

According to him, the Black Stars were blessed with players talented enough to annex the biggest trophy in international football.
“If I was the Coach of the 2010 squad now, maybe I can boldly say I am going to win the World Cup because that team had been there for about five or six years, so the consistency was there but it’s not like now. The quality of players you have at a particular time determines how much you can achieve as a Coach,” Coach Appiah told Betty Yawson on Untold Stories TV GH.

Touching on the 2014 World Cup debacle, Kwasi Appiah recounted instances where players boycotted training sessions due to the failure by the government to fulfilled a promise of settling their appearance fee.

He explained that in such situations where players are agitated due to reasons other than football, it becomes virtually impossible for coaches to organize them, teach them tactics and get them ready for matches.

Kwasi Appiah’s views corroborates statement by former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mahama Ayariga that Ghana failed in Brazil because promises made to the players were not fulfilled.

In a GhanaWeb interview, Mahama Ayariga stated that his knowledge of the situation indicates that the players were furious with the government and FA officials for not honoring their promises of paying their appearance.

Mahama Ayariga opined that it was impossible for the team to achieve success the ingredient needed for such feat to happen, were non-existent.

Kenpong Football Academy, owned by the revered Kenpong are based in Winneba where players are exposed to best training facilities.

Kwasi Appiah became the first Ghanaian and ex-Black Stars player to qualify and coach the team at the World Cup.

At the peak of his career, Kwasi Appiah captained the Black Stars and Kumasi Asante Kotoko where he won a lot of laurels.

He is regarded as one of the best players in Asante Kotoko’s history.