Ghanaians didn’t believe in the Black Stars when I came – Avram Grant

Former Black Stars head coach, Avram Grant has disclosed what he believed was the loss of love and confidence in the Black Stars after their disappointing performance at the 2014 World Cup.

Grant who took over the Black Stars from Kwesi Appiah after the 2014 World Cup fiasco noted that Ghanaians had no hope in the national team because of the issues that arose in Brazil.

According to him, he had to build a new Black Stars that was capable of competing for trophies and he was successful in doing that in less than one year after he took over.

“When I came nobody gave them a chance after the World Cup, the country was against them which I can understand because of what happened at the World Cup,” Avram Grant told the press on his arrival in Ghana on June 20, 2023.

He added, “I put up a plan and said that let's build another Ghana now and it was amazing.”

Sharing his fondest memories with the Black Stars, the ex-Chelsea coach said managing to seal qualification from the group stages at the 2015 AFCON was a bit difficult but his players were able to rise to the occasion.

For him, the Black Stars were the better side at the 2015 AFCON final against Ivory Coast.

“I will never forget we were in a tough group with Algeria, Senegal, South Africa. We lost the first game but we showed loads of mentality we came to the finals and there was no doubt that we were better than Ivory Coast. Yaya Toure told me this when I met him,” the coach said.

Since the departure of Avram Grant, the Black Stars have failed to reach the semi-final of the AFCON on two occasions, in 2019 and 2021. He helped Ghana place 4th at the 2017 AFCON.

JNA/FNOQ