THE Ghana Football Association (GFA), is leaving no stone unturned in its bid to get the Black Stars back to winning ways on the continental and world stage and possibly secure a ticket to the 2026 World Cup finals.
To this end, the FA is adding some experienced faces to the Black Stars that failed to reach the 2025 African Nations Cup (AFCON) finals in Morocco for the first time in 20 years.
After a careful and detailed review of the performance of the Black Stars during last year’s qualifiers for the AFCON, the Ghana Football Association has rejigged the technical team of the Stars.
The vastly experienced and accomplished German Manager and former African Cup of Nations winner with Cameroon in 2002, Winfried Anton Schafer.
The German has been appointed as Technical Advisor of the team with a mandate to work closely with Head Coach Otto Addo to build a winsome team.
He is also to serve as Director of Football for the Ghana Football Association.
The widely travelled Winfried Schafer has a managerial career spanning a little over 40 years working with a number of National teams including Cameroon, Thailand and Jamaica.
At the club level, he has equally worked with Borussia Monchengladbach, Karlsruher SC, VFB Stuttgart, Borussia Berlin
The highlight of Schafer’s experience with national teams was his winning the African Cup of Nations with Cameroon in 2002 without conceding a goal during open play.
Schafer has also coached in the United Arab Emirates, working with top clubs including Al Ain, Al-Ahli Dubai, Baniyas, Al-Khor, Al Khor
Coming on board as Assistant to Otto Addo is the architect of Ghana’s resurgence at the male Under-20 level, Coach Desmond Ofei.
The Africa Games gold medal-winning coach and Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) Coach of the Year 2024, who has swiftly carved a niche for himself as an achiever, is expected to bring his expertise and deep analytical prowess to the team.
Kris Perquy, an experienced Sports Psychologist with 17 years of experience, takes up the mantle of Psychologist of the team. Perquy was a key resource in the professionalisation of the football psychology of Belgium, where he worked with the Belgian Football Association for 15 years. He also worked as a Mental Coach for a number of professional football clubs in Belgium.
The Video Analysis Unit of the team will be headed by Belgian Video Analyst Gregory De Grauwe who has built his expertise and experience in video analysis working with football clubs including Sporting Lokeren and K. Beerschot VA. De Grauwe holds a UEFA License B Coaching license as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education.
Two new vastly experienced Equipment Officers, in the persons of Issah Amadou (Asante Kotoko) and Abdul Rahman Alhassan (Hearts of Oak), have also been named to the team. These two equipment handlers have a combined total of fifty-three years of experience between them.
The new hands:
- Winfried Anton Schafer – Technical Advisor
- Desmond Ofei – Assistant Coach
- Kris Perquy – Psychologist
- Gregory De Grauwe – Video Analysis
- Issah Amadou – Equipment Officer
- Abdul Rahman Alhassan – Equipment Officer
John Pantsil and Fatawu Dauda have retained their positions within the Black Stars’ technical team despite the latest restructuring by the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
Pantsil, the former Black Stars defender, continues as an assistant coach, while Dauda, a former international goalkeeper, remains the team’s goalkeeping coach.
German-Moroccan tactician Joseph Laumann, who was also an assistant, has been sacked and replaced by Ghana U20 head coach Desmond Ofei.
Their retention highlights the GFA’s confidence in their contributions to the national team.
Their roles will be crucial as the team gears up for upcoming tournaments under the revamped technical leadership, notably, the 2026 World Cup qualifiers which continue in March with matches against Chad and Madagascar.
Eighteen-Eleven Media