Le Roy Aims At CAN 2008 Triumph

New Ghana coach Claude Le Roy has set his sights on winning the 2008 African Nations Cup on home soil with the Black Stars after his appointment was confirmed by the Ghana Football Association late on Tuesday.


The Frenchman with a Nations Cup winning medal from his time with Cameroon in 1988 says Ghana has every chance to triumph on home soil in two years time. "I have been handed a side with a good base but I will be watching things closely. I will look to solidify that base and then build a side with home based players as the core. It is important that Ghana does well with the Nations Cup taking place in Accra and Kumasi and with 2010 world cup taking place in Africa, it will be important for Ghana to be there", he told the BBC's Network Africa program. Le Roy's appointement widely predicted before it was made official has been greeted with widespread acceptance and its easy to see why. While the Black Stars had in the past been entrusted into the hands of good but tried and untested foreign coaches seeking a route into African football fame, the GFA has gone for broke this time breaking the bank to bring one of the most successful coaches on the continent to Ghana. It is against this background that the man he beat to the job Jones Attuquayefio has urged the nation to throw its full weight behind the Frenchman. "I would have loved to have been given the job but that is where it ends. It was a dream and I thank everyone who gave me their full backing during my campaign to get the job. But now its time to get to the real business and the desire of every Ghanaian is to see the Black Stars win the Nations Cup on home soil in two years time and I want the whole nation to get behind the new coach", the former Hearts of Oak coach said. The Nations Cup seems to be the main benchmark by which Le Roy will be measured. He has been offered an initial 2-year deal with the option of renewal and GFA chairman Kwesi Nyantekyie said they had settled on Le Roy because they are convinced he can help deliver Africa's top football prize. The new coach first assignments will come in Asia when the Black Stars travel there to play Japan and South Korea in October.