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Salis Abdul Samed, a midfielder for Ghana, believes Mohammed Kudus and Kamaldeen Sulemana have the ability to lead the Black Stars’ comeback following their heartbreaking World Cup exit.

The 22-year-old RC Lens player has been one of Ghana’s top players at the tournament in Qatar, where the Black Stars were eliminated after the group phase.

There have already been discussions over the four-time African champs’ future. Former Nordsjaelland teammates Kudus and Kamaldeen, in Abdul Samed’s opinion, will be crucial to Ghana’s future success.

“The guys that will take us to the next level? Kudus, I think he will be a big star to me. His qualities are different from all of us,” Abdul Samed told 3Sports.

“I think Kamaldeen Sulemana if he gets more chance to play, he’s a top player because I’ve already played against him in Ligue 1 so many times last season.

“I think that guy is very, very good and he’ll be a big star. To me, if he works and gets more time to play, less injuries, he’ll be a top player.”

Kudus Mohammed was Ghana’s best player at the Mundial, while Kamaldeen Sulemana was restricted to two substitute appearances in the games against South Korea and Uruguay after recovering from an injury just before the tournament started.

Otto Addo says he still has a future with the Black Stars and has left the door open for a future return to the national team as head coach after his current contract with the Black Stars comes to an end.
Ghana’s elimination from the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar effectively ended the coach’s interim role with the team as he looks to continue with his responsibilities with German giants Borussia Dortmund as their talent coach and scout where he develops specific areas for their young talents and prepares their transition into the senior team.

He told the media he had to respect his contract with his German employers and could not go beyond the six-month leave granted him to manage Ghana’s World Cup qualification playoffs and the preparation for the World Cup final. Nonetheless, he expressed his willingness to provide support to his successor or the Ghana Football Association (GFA) if need be.

The coach said his decision to step down after the World Cup was public knowledge and was based on the agreement between the GFA and Dortmund to release him for just six months, after which he reverted to his developmental role with the club.

“Surely, maybe one day I’ll get the chance to work again with the GFA, but for the next two and a half years, I have a contract with Borussia Dortmund and I have to respect it,” he said at the teams Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Doha.

Credited with rebuilding the team that performed abysmally at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroun under Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac, 47-year-old Otto has faith in the young team he built for the World Cup. Ghana had the youngest team at the World Cup with an average age of 24.7, while a number of players went into the competition with less than five appearances for the national team.

However, he wants the next Black Stars coach to be given the free hand and opportunity to build on the successes gained and develop the team even further based on the coach’s philosophy. He advised Ghanaians against having unrealistic expectations of overnight success.

“When a new coach comes, I’ll expect that he is given the chance to develop and to allow the team to grow. Sometimes, it takes losses to grow and the best sportsmen have learned to turn their failures into success stories.

“I have difficulties in putting pressure on young players. Everyone knows that we have a good team that, hopefully, if we continue developing would get better. But we should not expect anything today because development is a process and takes time,” he said.

To develop and achieve success, the coach said he would love to see significant improvement in the players’ individual mindset and a strong collective mentality, which were key ingredients for success by teams.

He believes that the lack of strong collective self-belief largely accounted for Ghana’s 0-2 loss to Uruguay in last Friday’s crucial group fixture, and the players allowed the first half penalty miss by Skipper Andre Ayew affect them during the first half, which the South Americans capitalised on to score two quick goals, leaving Ghana to crash out of the tournament as the bottom team in Group H.

– Graphicsports

Former Ghana coach, Otto Addo has implored Ghanaians not to expect the Black Stars to win anything soon as the team go through development.

His comment comes after the country’s elimination from the ongoing 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Ghana suffered a 2-0 defeat against Uruguay last week. Ahead of the game, the Black Stars needed a draw to go through to the next stage of the tournament.

However, the Borussia Dortmund talent coach says the current team is promising but they will need time to win trophies.

“When a new coach comes, I’ll expect that he is given the chance to develop and to allow the team to grow,” he said, as quoted by Graphic Sports.

“Sometimes, it takes losses to grow and the best sportsmen have learned to turn their failures into success stories.

“I have difficulties in putting pressure on young players. Everyone knows that we have a good team that, hopefully, if we continue developing would get better. But we should not expect anything today because development is a process and takes time,” he added.

Meanwhile, Otto Addo has left his role as the Black Stars coach following the team’s elimination from the tournament.