Special role for ‘Tornado’ Appiah

Samuel Ebo Kwaitoo Sports News May - 17 - 2017 , 10:07 2 minutes read

Former Black Stars skipper, Stephen ‘Tornado’ Appiah, has been given a new role as the Technical Coordinator of the senior national team with a long-term view to grooming him into an expert for the nation.

The new portfolio, according to new Stars coach, Kwasi Appiah, is to empower the former Hearts of Oak and Juventus midfielder to become a great help to the nation in the near future.

Kwasi Appiah explained that as a key member of his new technical staff in his second stint as the Stars coach, Tornado would be assigned special technical duties, including monitoring of players and also serving as a coordinator between the players and the technical team.

“I want to empower him to grow and become a great help to the nation in future, depending on his interest,” Coach Appiah revealed at his unveiling at the Ghana Football Assciation (GFA) headquarters in Accra yesterday.

Indeed, yesterday’s announcement of the technical staff was an endorsement of the exclusive story carried in the Graphic Sports’ Weekend edition of May 5-7, 2017.

The long-anticipated list named former Ghanaian international and Indomitable Lions’ assistant coach, Ibrahim Tanko, as the first assistant coach, and Maxwell Konadu as the second assistant, particularly due to Kwasi Appiah’s additional responsibility as the coach for the local Black Stars.

The rest are Richard ‘Olele’ Kingson (goalkeepers’ trainer), Chris Adomako (team doctor), John Kwesi Nyamekye (physiotherapist), Nii Amasa Anum (masseur), Michael Okyere (video analyst), and Ismail Hamidu (equipment officer/welfare officer).

According to the vice president of the GFA, George Afriyie, the reshuffle of the Stars’ technical team followed the routine where the various national teams were reviewed by the FA every two years.

He stressed that all the appointments were made by the GFA in consultation with Coach Appiah.

Among the casualties include the team manager, Sabahn Quaye, Nassamu Yakubu (goalkeepers’ trainer), Dr Adam Baba (team doctor) and Prof. J.K. Mintah (psychologist).