By Benjamin Willie Graham
Former Nigeria coach, Gernot Rohr could have thrown his hat into the race for the Ghana Black Stars coach position following the dismissal of Milovan Rajevac.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) on Wednesday announced it has parted ways with the Serbian in the wake of the Stars’ disastrous outing at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon. The four-time champions exited the competition bottom of their group which included Morocco, Gabon and Comoros after amassing just a point as Ghana failed to win a game for the first time in the history of the competition.
Following the exit of Rajevac, the GFA is set to go on a hunt for a replacement and Rohr, 68, who until December 12 last year, was in charge of the Super Eagles, believes he has the capacity to turn around the fortunes of the Black Stars. Despite achieving the targets of qualifying for the AFCON and the World Cup Play-Offs, he was strangely shown the exit just week before the Cameroon event.
“Gernot (Rohr) is very much open to the Ghana job. Ghana football has great potential and his experience of the African game will help him steer the team in the right direction,” a source close to the coach said.
The Franco-German, enjoyed a five-year spell with Nigeria guiding to the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 and third place at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. He will go on to steer the Eagles to a record 54 games,
He is credited with building a youthful Super Eagles squad and getting the likes of Ola Aina, Joe Aribo, Maduka Okoye, amongst others to switch allegiance to Nigeria.
“His knowledge of African football is deep especially with West African teams. Besides Nigeria, he also handled Burkina Faso and Niger. Rohr also had a stint with Gabon in 2017. He has the quality to handle the Black Stars,” the source added.
With Ghana drawn against Nigeria in the Playoffs for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Rohr is hoping to get the mandate to force a bitter pill down the throats as a pay back for his shock dismissal.
“Gernot achieved FIFA World Cup qualification with Nigeria in 2018 and is keen on guiding Ghana to the 2022 edition. Ghana has big name players like Andre Ayew, Thomas Partey, Daniel Amartey amongst others who are hungry to play at the FIFA World Cup and Gernot can help turn that dream into a reality.”
Meanwhile, former Black Stars midfielder Otto Addo, has been linked with the position. Another name making rounds is Ibrahim Tanko, who won the UEFA Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997.
