Jon Benjamin, Outgoing British High Commissioner to Ghana
Outgoing British High Commissioner to Ghana Jon Benjamin has said he dreams of a Ghana versus England final at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The Black Stars of Ghana have picked only one point and trail group leaders Egypt, who have amassed six points out of two games played so far.
The Black Stars will host the Pharaohs on November 6, 2017 in a fixture that will determine who qualifies to the World Cup, but Mr Benjamin is optimistic that Ghana can beat the other countries in the group and defeat Egypt in the last game to make it to the tournament in Russia.
“I want to see Ghana beat Egypt in November to qualify for the World Cup to see a Ghana-England final in Russia 2018,” he said.
Having spent years in Ghana, the diplomat said the West African country is blessed with “amazing football talent” and more efforts must be made to develop the potential of players from grassroots to get exceptional finished products.
He was glad that his favourite football club, West Ham United, had secured the services of Andre Ayew whom he sees as a top class footballer who can contribute to the success of his team.
For him, the African continent needs to have a more equitable number of representations at the World Cup and was glad that FIFA had introduced a new system that would expand the number of participating countries at the tournament.
He emphasised that “Africa deserves more places in the World Cup” than the current five.
