Black Stars head coach Carlos Queiroz says he has 22 players ready for Tuesday's 2027 Africa Cup of Nations Group C qualifier against The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The coach provided an update on his squad after the team's final training session on Monday.
On team news
We just finished the training session, and I can announce that we have 22 players who are ready to play tomorrow. The only player that is still in doubt is Ronald. We hope that he can at least be on the bench tomorrow to give his contribution. Otherwise, all the other players trained normally, in good condition, in good shape and we are ready for the game tomorrow. As you all know, we come from a lesson we learned in Ivory Coast. That's my view about football matches. We always win or learn, and we learned something in that game. That's why we focused on some details of preparation, especially in our finishing. Defining moments to be more accurate, more efficient in our attacking moments. The boys are ready with a lot of motivation and my message to the fans is a message of confidence. What we expect from the local press and the fans is your trust, your support in a moment that we cannot hide the reality.
On solving problems amid challenges
We are facing a couple of challenges, a couple of problems, but Black Stars is not a problem. Like in every single life, in the hospitals, in the workshops, in the army, in the industry, in business, we face challenges and our duty as professionals is to solve the problems.
So my final statement is yes, we are facing some challenges. That's the challenge that we have in front of us for Black Stars. That's why we are Black Stars, but Black Stars was never a problem. Black Stars is not a problem, and Black Stars will never be a problem in the future.
On fear of the past after Ghana's failure to make it to the last AFCON
The most important thing is we don't win games with the past, but we also don't lose games with the past. We go for results with the ability and the will to win the next game, to be well prepared and beat our opponents. This is about the present, this is about the future. The past is important because the past gives us the learning process that we need to progress. With all due respect, and I know I am also a religious person, most people have religions, different gods, but football has its own god, and the god of football is results. So I cannot answer how many years, months or weeks I'll be in the job. Only the god of football can answer that. But my god, our god, is the one that gives us the will to work, the will to believe, the will to be better prepared. We have to be better organised, no doubt. We have to have better conditions around the pitch and around the players all the time. That's our god.
On being prepared and organized
If we are well prepared, well organised, we have a strong will to win, then our god can tell the god of football, this is the way to go forward. Because if we're not organised, we don't have discipline, if we're not prepared, the god of football always punishes.
This is a very important moment for Black Stars in the Africa Cup of Nations. We have an important game tomorrow. We have to move everybody that supports Black Stars in the same direction. Supporting the players that are here to perform. We only need the ones that come here to support the players that will be here to play for Black Stars. Don't come here to cry for the others that are not here, please. They are important. Everybody is important. But the most important players we have in this moment are the ones that are here. So, if you come here tomorrow, come to support them.
On contract duration
Contract duration at this stage of my life depends on what I'm able to deliver to Black Stars. I'm not here for an engagement of a contract. My contract is to serve Black Stars well, to win games, and make it right for the team. And if Ghana football is happy with me, it's not two, three, four years, it is 10 years. If Ghana football is not happy with me, I keep going. I keep supporting Black Stars. I'm not here for a contract. I'm here to serve the Black Stars. One day, one year, 10 years, only God knows.
On building a winning team and putting seeds for the future
It is really very hard to build a winning team. You look at the history of Black Stars, and you see wonderful moments. Everybody is talking of 44 years ago when Ghana won the AFCON. You talk about the success in the World Cup in 2010, but if you really want to build the future of a winning team, you have to be consistent. You have to be systematic.
Champions do it one, two, three, four times and they keep going all the time. This is not about winning or qualifying once in a while. We need more heroes. And how do you make more heroes? When you become champion more times. When you play the Africa Cup of Nations final and you win, when you qualify for the World Cup and you reach round 16, round 8, round 4. Not once in a while.
You cannot build a winning team if you change seven, eight, nine players every call-up. There are no champions that can change the team seven, eight, nine players every time.
We have to think about that. We have to have the core of the team prepared and ready with clarity, with honesty, with the right communication between the Federation and the players.
If you believe that we lost 23 injured players from the main list, there is no other situation in football history that one national team loses 23 players. But what is the good news? We put in place a system, hard work, one organisation that in minutes we have answers for every single problem. We have 24 players in camp. We don't spend one second crying; we don't want to spend one second with excuses.
We have to put seeds all over the places, in youth preparation, coaches' education, football pitches, improve the quality of pitches in Ghana. We have to put the eggs in different baskets as our mothers and grandmothers do. They don't put all the eggs in the same basket.
On winning the game against The Gambia
If we want to win the game, we have to have the ball with us, we have to recover the ball, keep the ball with us. And after we keep the ball, we have to play with a positive mind and express our skills to go forward and try to score. That's why the boys trained today, a lot of finishing. Because if you see the game of Ivory Coast, it was a very tight game. The game turned to their side, could have turned to our side. But the reality is, the best open chances of the game belonged to Black Stars.
I am very much confident that it's positive football, attacking football. If our defining moments get better, we're very close to winning.
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