What’s different about the Ghana team today compared
to the squad that played in the World Cup in 2010?
I think the difference is that we’ve got a lot of young, good players on
the team. Before we had a lot of experienced players but today we have a lot of
young chaps coming up. I think it’s a good thing.
As you just said, obviously there are quite a few
young, talented, Ghanaian players who’ve joined since the 2010 World Cup in
South Africa. Who do you think will really make an impression in this
tournament?
It’s very difficult to predict in tournaments like this, you know? It
could be somebody’s breakthrough. I had my breakthrough in 2006 and even in 2010,
so talking about tournaments you might not know. There might be more
expectation for a particular player and that player might end up disappointing.
So, tournaments like that, we just have to go in as an all-around team and make
sure we deliver for the nation. Definitely there might be a revelation for the
team, but I’m not God (laughs), so I don’t know at the moment. Let’s just go there
and we’ll see what happens.
How important is it to have the right balance on a
team between these older, more experienced players and the younger, energetic
players?
Yea, it’s a good thing. It’s a good thing. Young players are more
energetic and our experiences combine together. Talking about experienced
players, they can share that experience with the young players to combine
everything – to deliver. Talking about young players, they’ve got more energy
to do maybe 200% of what experienced players can do. While the experienced
players sit back and control everything. With young players, there might be
something that they might not know, so it’s like the experienced players show
them the right path to do their job.
As the captain of the
team, do you sometimes feel a burden of responsibility? Or is the role for you
an enjoyable one?
I would say yes and no. You know, sometimes people look up to the
captain. There are ups and downs in the game. The captain and the coach must
take responsibility for the team. I’ve been there for about 11 years and I’ve
been through ups and downs; I’ve been through hard times. That is why, being a
captain today I don’t feel any pressure. I’m ready to face anything because the
whole country turned against me when I was a kid, so it’s like paying homage to
all the difficult times before being a captain. I’m ready to take any
responsibilities. Yeah, there’s pressure. Sometime I feel like when we’re going
onto the field, a captain has to win his game. Sometimes I feel like: “Hey, I’m
leading the team. I have to come out victorious.” So any time things go wrong,
I feel more pressure. I feel like I didn’t lead the team well and sometimes
people say horrible things about the captain, but I’ve passed through a lot of
difficult moments in football, so I know what it takes.
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You mentioned that
you had your breakthrough in 2006, which is obviously when you scored the very
first goal in Ghana’s World Cup history. What does this mean to you and is it
something you look back on with a special feeling?
Yes, it’s a goal I’ll never forget. I remember the first game against
Italy, we lost 2-0 and that was our first World Cup. And I think the second
game was really, really important and we were hoping to win. I wasn’t expecting
to score the fastest goal, but I remember before the game I told my brother:
“I’m going to score” and he said, “Yea, we hope so.” But I didn’t think the
goal was going to come that early. It was like people back home in Ghana were
expecting Ghana to win the second game to keep us in the competition, because
we lost our first game. And I scored that goal. So, it’s like I brought back
the hope to Ghana and at the same time, the goal became one of the records for
the fastest goal in a World Cup - 1 minute and 8 seconds, if I remember
correctly.
The Ghanaian squad is
known for its special team spirit. How important is this in order to prepare
well and to succeed on the pitch?
Yeah, team spirit is very, very important. Talking about the Ghanaian
team, we know how to psych ourselves up. Being the captain, I know how to psych
the boys up. Even when I wasn’t the captain, I’m the one who makes sure I psych
the players up by composing songs. You know, we crack jokes in the camp just to
forget a little bit about the game, just to take off some pressure. When we go
onto the field or for training, I’m the one that leads the song to encourage
team spirit. So, that is how we psych ourselves up and by doing that, we bring
unity to the team. We love each other and we help each other. I don’t think any
other country has more spirit than Ghana.
Ghana will have to
face Germany and the USA in the tournament’s group stage in Brazil, two very
familiar opponents when it comes to your past World Cup experiences. Do you
think it is going to be an advantage that you know both the teams well?
It’s going to be a tough game. Speaking of the history, we beat the US
in 2006 and then we beat them again in 2010, so we’ve beaten them twice in the
World Cup. And this time, I think they’re going to come with the mentality to
take revenge and it’s going to be the first game in the tournament. Every first
game in the World Cup is a top game because everybody wants to win to stay in
the competition and everyone is nervous. It’s going to be an action-packed
game. We’ll try to sit back, play our normal game. What makes this different is
that they are coming for revenge; they want to do whatever it takes to win
against Ghana.
Is it similar for
Germany?
Yea, we also want to win because in every tournament, every single game
is very important for any country. So that’s what we’re looking at.
The Ghana National
Team kit has just been launched by PUMA. What’s your opinion on the new shirt,
its graphics and the ACTV technology featured in the shirt?
Great, great. Ghana’s National Team has been working with PUMA for quite
a long time now and not only Ghana, but many of the African countries. We’ve
got a very good relationship with PUMA. Talking about this year’s World Cup
shirt, it’s incredible. You can see they’ve included some really interesting
graphics in the colours of our nation. I was surprised when I saw it, surprised
about how they got the idea to do that. Talking about the PUMA shirt, it’s a
quality thing. It’s a quality shirt and everybody knows; all the African teams
know that. It’s got this taping in the shirt and it makes the players recover
very quickly when we’re playing. It makes us recover very quickly, which is
important for athletes, really, really important.
In addition to
Germany and the States, Portugal is the fourth country in your group and your
group has actually been described as “The Group of Death.” Do you see it like
that?
Yes, I see it like that. But football doesn’t talk about names anymore.
We’ve done it before; Ghana has done it before. In 2006, we were in the same
group with Italy. Italy went through to win the Cup and we made it through instead
of the US, who were rated 4th in the world around that time and
Czech Republic was rated 5th in the world at that time. Ghana was
the underdog and we were able to deliver. The same thing happened in 2010. So
it has happened before and I don’t feel any pressure at all. We’ve got a lot of
experience in the World Cup. We’re going to make sure we make every Ghanaian
proud by playing our normal game and we’ll see what happens.
Will it be a
challenge to qualify for the knockout phase this time?
Definitely, it’s going to be a challenge. Portugal has got a great team.
Germany, of course, is the favourite; that’s what people are saying.
Statistically, they are the favourite in the group, but you don’t know what is
going to happen. Any country that qualifies for the World Cup is a good one.
