President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pledged to give the senior national football team, the Black Stars, the necessary support it needed to prepare for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
The President, in a meeting with the players and officials of the team at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday, commended the team for the impressive qualification run and pledged to help the team prepare adequately for the tournament.
The Black Stars secured qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup after eliminating their Nigerian rivals on 1-1 goal aggregates.
The President congratulated the team and urged top officials of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to maintain the technical team put together for the two-legged qualifying fixture against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
The President announced an undisclosed package for the team for qualifying for the world football tournament.
He said the team, with oneness and cooperation, worked together to achieve the goal, adding that “I hope the technical team put together for these two matches will take us to the World Cup”.
He advised the team to work with hunger, desire and determination and take the world by storm when the tournament begins later this year.
“The person we grew up worshiping, World Pele, said in his lifetime, an African team will win the World Cup,” the President paused, smiled, and added that with adequate preparation and unity, the sky would be the limit for the team.
The interim coach of the Black Stars, Otto Addo, thanked Ghanaians for the support and the team that began the qualifying process, including Coach C.K Akonnor and Milovan Rajevac.
He also thanked the players who participated at various stages of the qualifiers but could not get the opportunity to play in the final two-legged qualifying games against the Super Eagles.
The President of GFA, Kurt Okraku, thanked the government for the support, including the Minister of Youth and Sports, the Black Stars team and management body.
He said although the Nigerians and match officials were hostile, the team fought gallantly to secure qualification.
The Black Stars will, on Friday, know the group and teams they would be playing against when the final draw of the FIFA World Cup 2022 is held in Doha, Qatar.
BY YAW KYEI
