Olele urges patience in Ghana’s goalkeeper search

Former Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson is thrilled to be back in the national team fold as goalkeeping coach, and has urged patience as the country continues the search for his long-term successor.

Kingson’s last game for Ghana came in 2011, and he has since watched on as Adam Kwarasey, Fatau Dauda and Razak Braimah have tried and failed to make the position their own.

While he believes there is still enough talent around to solve the problem, Kingson is adamant there will need to be a certain level of patience for that to happen.

“You see the desire for them to do something great for Ghana, but goalkeeping is a process and they need to go through that by making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.

Through mistakes you can learn, through mistakes you become strong,” he tells KweséESPN.

Kingson, Ghana’s goalkeeper at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, and number one over a seven-year period and 90 caps, is now in head coach Kwesi Appiah’s mentoring team, and says he is loving every bit of it.

“I am always honest and happy to serve my country Ghana.

It is a real honour. As a coach I am here to help the young ones to develop and the experienced ones to get their normal time,” Kingson adds. “It gives me a lot of joy. It is something that I enjoy doing. I have become used it.

I like to do it more than to eat food.” The former Birmingham City and Blackpool goalkeeper says being on the technical team has required a bit of getting used to, but he is just delighted to be around again.

“Sometimes I miss my way and then when we are going for meetings or prayers I tend to go with the players instead of the technical team,” he explains. “I will figure all those out properly as time goes on but being back with this team is in itself a great honour.”

Kingson is currently part of a backroom staff dominated by ex-Ghana internationals. It includes his former captain Stephen Appiah, former teammate Ibrahim Tanko, as well as Maxwell Konadu and another ex-Ghana captain in Appiah.

Kingson believes that is the way forward for Ghana football, adding: “Football is always for footballers.

We have played to a certain level and that helps us when we work in it. It is good when you have played at the highest level to have the presence.”