They say “One good turn, deserves another.” That may be right in several ways but in the case of the Ghana National Team, so many good turns have happened to the women’s team with the men’s team yet to cope.
There was just one month difference between the appointment of Nora Hauptle and that of Chris Hughton.
Hauptle replaced Mercy Tagoe as head coach of the Black Queens in January 2023 while Hughton was brought into the head coach role in February, taking over from Otto Addo after the latter resigned following Ghana’s 2022 World Cup campaign in Qatar.
Nora came, then Chris; but there have been twice as much success as the Black Queens have seen under the Swiss compared to the Black Stars under the Irish manager.
To think that both coaches served the same role in the respective national teams before stepping into the dugouts, there were huge expectations for both teams — Black Stars and Black Queens.
However, the women seem to heading for more glory in these early days than what the men have shown since the appointment of the two.
Under Hauptle’s guidance, the Black Queens are gradually becoming a team to reckon with and a rising force on the continent once again.
On the other hand, the Black Stars are not getting any better and the recent performances have made things even worse.
But where did all start and how far progress has been made by both coaches?
“The Black Queens’ head coach role is a very big task but I feel prepared for this task. I see myself as a manager and I want to surround myself with a lot of good people that I empower…,” Hauptle said in her first words following her appointment as the head coach.
Her first game was a friendly against Benin with the Swiss trainer recording a 3-0 victory played in Cotonou.
It’s been uphill since then as the Queens have gone on to win their six subsequent games across all competitions including four competitive games in the qualifiers for the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations as well as the 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers.
It’s been seven games in total but the Black Queens are yet to hit a snack nor have they also shipped in a goal playing either at home or away from home while they have scored a whopping 26 goals. There is a clear pattern of play, desire to improve and quest to achieve something the country has not last reached years ago.
The closest the Queens have been booking a spot at the Olympics was in 2004 when they missed the opportunity to be present at Athens after losing 2-3 on penalties to the Super Falcons of Nigeria in the final qualifying game played in Accra.
It’s been an early shower in subsequent times but Hauptle is hopeful of changing the trend for the games to be held in Paris.
Ghanaians have shied away from heaping praise on the Swiss coach as there are concerns the team is yet to play any of the continent’s top guns.
That may be a fair point but what has happened to their other counterparts; the Black Stars who have failed to beat the minnow on the continent in some games and struggled in games they have won?
Since assuming his new role, Hughton has been in charge of seven games across all competitions.
Angola (twice), Madagascar, the Central African Republic, Liberia, Mexico and the United States of America have been his challenges in that period.
Have the Black Stars really impressed? Have they shown signs of winning the hearts of Ghanaians? Is Chris Hughton really an upgrade?
These are valid questions that many have asked in the short period that he has been in charge.
His appointment was received with strong optimism having had experience from the English Premier League and was touted as the man to make Ghana football great again. Of course, even his CV would bear witness that he was going to take the national team to another level.
In his his first game, Ghana grabbed a scrappy win over Angola at the Baba Yara Stadium with Antoine Semenyo netting the winner in the 96th minute of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. It was scrappy but at that point, it was only the win that mattered.
The two games that followed were stalemates and then the questioning started if we were indeed seeing anything different.
The Irish Ghanaian coach was the subject of strong criticism from Executive Council members of the GFA with Randy Abbey and George Amoako going public with their concerns.
The team manager of the Black Stars Ameenu Shardow joined the public queries when he quizzed the performances of the team under the former Norwich City manager.
The vice president of the association, Mark Addo, also added his voice to the growing concerns around the 64-year-old who had only won once in his three games since being named the head coach of the Black Stars.
After those criticisms, four games have been played with Ghana winning two (vs. CAR and Liberia) and losing the other two (vs. Mexico and USA), the defeats raising more attention than the victories did.
There’s been no pattern, no style and to think he is noted for solidifying the defensive unit of his teams, Hughton’s last two games have been terrible for the eyes.
There is no denying that Hughton would need time but the performance of the team does not get any better with each game that passes by.
As long as the Black Queens keep doing well, questions will be asked about the competence of Hughton and his group of technical members.
There is little time between his first competition as the Black Stars boss but between now and the AFCON in January, Hughton has the 2026 World Cup qualifiers to try and turn things around.
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