Soccer News of Sunday, 18 May 2014

Source: goal.com

I am my own man - Coach Appiah

The Ghana coach says no one will influence him when it comes to discharging his Black Stars duties.

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has said all his decisions regarding the Black Stars’ World Cup campaign are devoid of any external influences.

The 53-year-old, who is the first indigenous coach to have qualified Ghana to the World Cup recently named his provisional squad for the tournament.

Quite a number of people have wondered whether Appiah kowtows to everything thrown at him by his employers since he is a local coach.

But the former Ghana captain told fifa.com that he is his own man and would call the shots at the World Cup.

"Since I took over the job, I have been my own man. If you let someone influence your decision, they won't respect you.

"You do things your own way when in charge of the team and if they don't work out you become responsible for the consequences. If they do, you take the honours," the former Black Stars assistant coach said.

When asked about his World Cup group opponents, Appiah said his team would not suffer any inferiority complex against any of the Group G sides.

"We play Germany, USA and Portugal in our group, but we did get this far and we can't underrate or overrate any team, the game has come of age and it's any man's game.

“All teams in our group are strong, but we can't fear them because our qualification demonstrates our ability and potential. If you have qualified for the World Cup and you fear your opponents, then you might as well not go for the competition," he said.