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Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah says the fact that there are two local coaches in the last four of the Africa Cup shows they can do better if supported.
And Burkina Faso coach Paul Put says qualifying to the quarter finals had been reason enough for a big party in Ouagadougou.
Burkina Faso and Ghana lock horns at Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday night in the second of the two semi finals of the 2013 Africa Cup.
According to www.bolaZambia.com, Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi and Appiah will be up against two foreign coaches in Belgian Paul Put (Burkina Faso) and Frenchman Patrice Carteron (Mali).
In a pre-match conference Appiah played down the Mbombela ‘sand pit’ Stadium factor in his side’s semi final clash against the Stallions of Burkina Faso.
“I personally believe that in Africa respect for black coaches is low,” said Appiah.
“But once a black person is given an opportunity, especially the [by the] media. They need to pull the support obviously behind [African coach] then they will be as good as the white coach.”
The soft-spoken trainer said local coaches needed a strong mentality to survive.
“It is also up to the black coach to be strong not to allow anybody to tell him what to do and most of the times that is what happens (being told what to do),” Appiah said.
“Mostly, if you are a black coach people will take the opportunity to push you around.”
And Appiah said his side did not feel disadvantaged playing at the Mbombela Stadium for the first time.
“Unfortunately, we have been informed that we cannot have our training session at the match day pitch (Mbombela) but I do not believe in saying that this is a good pitch or a bad pitch,” he said.
“The most important thing is how you are going to play with the team.”
And a relaxed looking Put said he hoped the high media turn out would follow them to Johannesburg, the venue of the final.
“It is always very nice to see professional media people. It means that Burkina is very inclusive and a hot item today so I hope you can continue till Johannesburg,” he said.
He added: “The target was just to do better than the previous Africa Cup of Nations so just by one draw against Nigeria and by beating Ethiopia it was already party time in Ouagadougou.”
Ghana, who were based in Port Elizabeth will make their first appearance at Mbombela Stadium, when they face Burkina Faso who have played all their tournament matches at the infamous pitch that has drawn widespread condemnation.
