Kickoff (Cape Town)
13 August 2008
The Ghana Football Association says it has absolute confidence in the ability of new coach Milovan Rajevac to take the Black Stars to the 2010 World Cup.
The Serbian has agreed a two-year deal to coach the Black Stars at 30 000 Euro a month. He will be unveiled by the football association to the Ghana media on Monday before meeting the bulk of his players in Arusha, Tanzania for a friendly international against the East Africans.
The Serbian's appointment ends a three month search a new coach after Frenchman Claude LeRoy quit the position in May this year.
Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantekyie had promised a coach with the pedigree and track record to qualify Ghana for the world cup and is convinced Rajevac fits that bill.
"We settled on him because of his track record", Nyantekyie told KickOffGhana.com. "He has coached consistently since the '80s and we find him motivated for success. He may have no previous experience at national team level but he wants to achieve for him and that for us was very important."
Nyantekyie led the search for a new coach and says throughout the process money was a major hindrance in the process and was the main reason why the process took so long. And while he admits his new man may not be in the class of some of the coach's they considered, he feels his competence will stand up to any.
"He may be unfamiliar to many people with no spectacular background we feel he can do the job. He came highly recommended by some of the biggest names in the game.
"He rates highly in our estimation and we also feel that he will have an understanding of our situation as a developing country and be able to cope with some of the difficulties that comes with working here that other more established coaches may not have been prepared for."
The Serbian will take charge of the main national team and also the local Black Stars that is seeking to play in next year's African Nations championships for the home based side. But his main brief will be to qualify Ghana for both the 2010 Nations Cup and world cup and perform creditably with the side.
Nyantekyie says the GFA will do everything to help him reach those goals.
"Once we have settled on him, we will stand by him. We think that if we give him the necessary support and provide the right environment, we will win together."
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