Black Stars head coach Kwesi Appiah says he was lucky to land the job in the first place.

He told Vox Africa host Kwaku Owusu Frimpong that he wasn’t the best coach at the time of his appointment, noting that the opportunity was divinely orchestrated.

“I would not say that I was the best coach to be chosen, but I was one of the luckiest. I was assistant coach for four years and after serving in that capacity, I have been given the opportunity. I didn’t lobby for the job but my appointment was predestined by God.”

Appiah hinted that leading the Black Meteors to win the All Africa Games gold medal in football in 2011 helped land him the job, adding that the victory gave him confidence and also gave the Ghana Football Association confidence in him.

“The All African Games victory gave me confidence and gave the GFA confidence in me, and I believe it was one reason why I got the job.”

Appiah also told Vox Africa that handling the job has been difficult because Ghana is filled with football loving people who pride themselves on knowledge of the game, adding that some people know more than he does. He added that it is easier for people to make criticism because the Black Stars head coach is indigenous, which is a departure from the usual norm of hiring foreign coaches.

“We were relying on foreign coaches, but now that the focus is on indigenous coaches, it is easier for people to criticize. As you said, it has not been easy. Ghana is a football loving country and people know even more than I do. The media even wants to show you what to do and it is difficult, but once you know what you want to do, and not allowing anyone to interfere in your job, you would be fine.”

The Black Stars head coach revealed that he learnt a lot from the foreign coaches he served under, noting that he added his knowledge to what he had learnt in order to work.

“I have been under Claude Le Roy, Milovan Rajevac and Goran Stevanovic and I learnt a lot from them. It is just that implementing things yourself is another thing. So I added what I learnt from them to my own thing and this is how I work.”