39-year-old Stephen Appiah speaks on his goals as he pursues a career in the dugout
Former Ghana and Juventus midfielder Stephen Appiah has stated he is in no rush to achieve his dream of coaching the national team.
Until recently the technical coordinator of the Black Stars, the 39-year-old has been working on his coaching badges to realise his ultimate ambition.
He hung up his boots in 2015, a year after helping Ghana reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
“It’s always good to start from somewhere," Appiah said, as reported by Footballmadeinghana.
"I am not rushing to coach the senior national team, I have to get the experience [first].
“So to get the experience from somewhere, why not join Accra Hearts of Oak, I will learn under the Hearts of Oak coach.
“And If I have the chance to handle the [Ghana] U17's, that’s where I would [like to] start from.”
During his playing days, Appiah progressed from featuring for local giants Hearts of Oak to lining up for Italian clubs Udinese, Parma, Brescia and Juventus.
He was also on the books of Bologna and Cesena in the Serie A following a three-year stay with Fenerbahce in Turkey.
His last club as a player was Serbian side Vojvodina.
''I was having a different plan altogether as to what career I may pursue when I retire from active football,'' Appiah told Fox FM in 2017.
"I quite remember three years ago when [former Chelsea and Ghana midfielder] Michael Essien and my other playing mates in Europe urged me to go into coaching.
''They motivated me by suggesting that from the way I command a maximum respect from my teammates, it'd be prudent for me to become a coach, and also judging by the knowledge I've gained on and off the field as a player. They were certain that I'll succeed.
''So I decided to ponder over it and I came to a conclusion that I've to take up my coaching course.
"I've already registered for the course and very soon, I'll acquire my certificate, which I'm looking forward to be working with in the near future.''
Appiah was Ghana's captain as the Black Stars featured at their maiden World Cup tournament in 2006, also going ahead to play at South Africa 2010 four years later.
Having retired from the Black Stars later in 2010, the former Fenerbahce man was a member of Ghana's team for the 2014 World Cup in a non-playing capacity.
In 2017, he was named as technical coordinator of the Black Stars, a role he held until December last year.
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