Don’t put C K Akonnor under unnecessary pressure – JE Sarpong

Veteran Ghanaian trainer JE Sarpong has admonished Ghanaian football fraternity to desist from putting Black Stars head coach Charles Akonnor under needless pressure.

Akonnor is just a little over 13 months into his job as head coach of the senior national team of the West African powerhouse but is already courting internal pressure from the top brass of the Ghana Football Association as well as some Ghana fans.

Whilst the former Ghana international remains focused on getting the four-time AFCON winners back into the mainstream of African football there are divided opinions and faith in his system.

However a decent majority of local fans have hailed his decision to rely solely on home-based talents for next month’s AFCON qualifier against South Africa.

It is the first time since legendary Ghanaian coach Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio used an entire Hearts of Oak side to face Nigeria in a FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Accra Sports Stadium.

While some elements within the top brass of the GFA have other ideas veteran coach JE Sarpong has called for patience for the coach to succeed.

“We don’t have to put CK under needless pressure. He is a very good coach and he has capacity to excel. The move he has made to play the next AFCON qualifier with an entirely local based players shows that he is really determined to prove a point,” Sarpong told Dan K Yeboah on Accra-based Peace FM.

Akonnor was in charge when the Black Stars dismantle Qatar 5-1 in a FIFA international friendly last October and is close to securing qualification to the summer’s 2021 AFCON for the Black Stars.