Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, has revealed targets outlined for Black Stars head coach, Chris Hughton.
Hughton has signed a 21-month deal with the Ghana Football Association to become Black Stars coach, replacing Otto Addo who resigned after the World Cup in Qatar.
The former Premier League manager is off to a flying start to his reign as Ghana coach, winning one and drawing one in his first two games in charge against Angola in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers last month.
At the launch of the 2023 Ramadan Cup on Thursday, Mustapha Ussif revealed the four main targets outlined in Hughton’s contract.
According to him, the Ghana FA has tasked Hughton to lead the Black Stars to qualify for the next African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Additionally, Hughton has been mandated to identify talented players from the local leagues, qualify Ghana for the FIFA World Cup, and improve the country’s Coca-Cola FIFA World ranking.
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“The objectives are set by the FA for him to ensure that we qualify for AFCON and also to ensure that we identify local talents from our league. To also ensure that we qualify for the World Cup and also to make sure that our ranking in the FIFA Ranking improves. These are the objectives in the contract that he has signed,” he told Graphic Sports.
The Minister also called on all Ghanaians to rally behind Hughton to achieve his targets.
Ussif expressed his satisfaction with Hughton’s early results, which included a win and a draw against Angola in the 2024 AFCON qualifiers.
Hughton, 64, will hope to steer the Black Stars to end the country’s 41 Afcon trophyless jinx in Ivory Coast next year.