Peter Duah, a United States based soccer coach has called on the Ghana Football Association (GFA) not to dwell on the dismal performance of Herbert Addo at the recent CHAN tournament to not grant local coaches the opportunity of handling the senior national team, the Black Stars.
In an interview with yours truly in Accra, he noted that the fact that Herbert Addo could not do well in Sudan 2011 does not mean all local coaches are bad. Coach Duah stressed that just two years ago, Sellas Tetteh coached the nation’s U-20 side to win the World Youth Championship in Egypt and was hailed and honoured, so there are other Ghanaians who can do better.
He said, even coach Milovan Rajevac who took the Black Stars to the quarter final of the 2010 World Cup is also finding it difficult and has been reported to have left his lucrative job in Saudi Arabia. “We are capable, we have the men who can do the job. It is just a matter of picking the right man and the right players at the right time,” Peter Duah expressed.
According to the technical man who has met great stars like Sugar Ray Leonard Jnr, the great Pele of Brazil, Carlos Alberto Pereira and George Best, football is not only about winning. He said in football, there are three results and all good sportsmen and women must accept the any of win, loss or draw in good faith.
He asserted that football is also about entertainment and coaches ought to teach players how to entertain and how to win. Coach Peter Duah was not happy on the way lands meant for recreational facilities are turned to other things that deprive the nation of fields to spot, nurture and train sports talents. He expressed his desire to work for the nation on a large scale so that many people benefit.
He congratulated those people putting up football academies and hoped the government will encourage and support them. He named some of the facilities he has visited as Gomoa Fetteh Feyenoord Academy, Unistar Academy, Tom Vernon Academy near Akosombo, and the Red Bull Academy at Sogakope. He said these facilities will be beneficial to the children and in the near future Ghana will still be producing more quality stars.
Coach Duah was director of technical development with the CCV Stars in the USA. In 2003, he was a member of the Ghana team staff at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and coached the GM Arizona Sand Sharks Football team. He was also once the head coach of GCU (1996 NCAA Division 2), National Champions and was named coach of the year 1991 for the Far West Region NACC Division 2. In 1990, he was voted coach of the year - NAIA District 7 in the United States of America.
After being so successful in the USA, he has promised to impart his knowledge to Ghanaians who are willing to learn.
