Osei: How Ghana's victory against Qatar proves Akonnor will succeed in his role

BetOdds Africa Cup of Nations Qualification Ghana Sudan v Ghana Sudan Ghana v Sudan

The former Black Stars player believes the current coach is on course to achieve his set targets

Former Ghana international Michael Osei believes the national team's recent friendly matches against Mali and Qatar should provide coach CK Akonnor with the best approach for November's double-header against Sudan.

As part of preparations towards the resumption of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers, the Black Stars tested their preparedness with matches against their West African counterparts and the Asian champions.

On Friday, Ghana fell to a disappointing 3-0 loss to Mali before bouncing back with a 5-1 triumph over 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar on Monday.

The two games were the first for Akonnor since taking over the coaching position from James Kwasi Appiah in January.

“It was a good exercise for Akonnor," Osei, former head coach of Ghana Premier League side Asante Kotoko, said as reported by Ghana Web.

"Since he came, he hasn’t had an opportunity to play any friendly game so this will help him know how he will go about the next game in Sudan. It’s a good test for him and he will now have ideas about player selection.

“He brought in some new players and I think this was the right time for him to invite them. Now he as a rough idea of the new players and how to mix them up with the old players.

"From the technical perspective, we did very well in the second game in terms of organisation, compactness, sharpness, determination and everything. We saw more of these things in the second game than in the first game.

“In the second game, we looked sharp, won more possession, pressed high and created a lot of chances. The second game I think was good for Akonnor. It shows that Akonnor and his team can do well."

Ghana are pushing for their 23rd appearances at Afcon.

From their previous participations, the Black Stars won the title on four occasions, the last coming in Libya in 1982.

Akonnor has been tasked to lead Ghana to clinch a fifth continental title at the next gathering in Cameroon and steer the side to World Cup qualification following their failure for the 2018 event in Russia.

2020-10-14 23:00:10

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