Thaindian News

By Abhishek Roy
Cape Town, July 5 (IANS) If there is one coach in this World Cup whose heart beats for India, it is Ghana’s goalkeeping coach Edward Ansah.

Ansah, one of the finest goalkeepers Africa ever produced, ended his playing career with Goa’s I-League club Churchill Brothers, before taking up the coaching job with Ghana.

A widely travelled goalkeeper who kept posts in several countries in Africa and Asia, Ansah, 47, joined the Churchill Brothers in the 2000-01 season and played for five years.

He fondly remembers his days in India and despite his hectic schedule with the Ghanian team, Ansah has been following Indian football closely.

“I feel the Indian team has done well under Bob Houghton,” Ansah told IANS.

“But they haven’t come across any tough opponents till now. In the Asian Cup next year they are pitted against teams like Australia and South Korea. And both the teams, especially South Korea, are of high standards. India can only progress if they play regularly against such teams,” he says.

Asked if was willing to work with India, Ansah said: “Oh, that would be great! But India have a good coach in Bob Houghton and my old friend Marcus Pacheco is the goalkeeping coach. My heart still beats for India.”

Ansah, who is working alongside Serbian coach Milan Rajevac, says working with Ghana’s national team has come as a big opportunity.

“It was a great honour for me to be a part of the national team in the World Cup. It was also a privilege to working with Rajevac. I have learnt a lot from him and now I can look forward to more challenging assignments,” said Ansah.

He is happy that Ghana attained stardom this World Cup by reaching their maiden World Cup quarterfinals. But there is a shade of disappointment as they lost to Uruguay in the quarterfinals.

At the packed Soccer City in Johannesburg Saturday, Ghana went down to Uruguay on penalties and lost a golden opportunity to become the first African team to qualify for the semifinal.

“It was a shocking loss for us. But we had to blame ourselves for the loss. The whole Soccer City was cheering for us. You can’t win a match if you miss three penalties. It was bad,” Ansah says.

Ansah, however, feels that Ghana’s success will help African football in the long run.

“This was first World Cup in Africa and I am happy that the Black Stars (Ghana) gave the whole of Africa something to cheer about. It was a sight to watch when a united Africa was cheering for Ghana.”

(Abhishek Roy can be contacted at abhishek.roy@ians.in)