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| Stephen Tornado Appiah, former Black Stars captain |
Former Ghana and Juventus midfielder Stephen Appiah has stated he is in no rush to achieve his dream of coaching the national team.
Until recently the technical coordinator of the Black Stars, the 39-year-old has been working on his coaching badges to realise his ultimate ambition.
He hung up his boots in 2015, a year after helping Ghana reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Appiah was formerly appointed team manager of the Black Stars, this he said he was not in a hurry to step into coaching the senior national team the Black Stars.
"I am not rushing to coach the senior national team, I have to get the experience first, and If I have the chance to handle the U17, that’s where I would start from.” he explained.
During his playing days, Appiah progressed from featuring for local giants Hearts of Oak to lining up for Italian clubs Udinese, Parma, Brescia and Juventus.
He was also on the books of Bologna and Cesena in the Serie A following a three-year stay with Fenerbahce in Turkey before ending his career as a professional footballer at Vojvodina.
The former Black Stars captain whose life after football was not a thought to stand by the touchline revealed he had a different plan of his life aside coaching.
''I was having a different plan altogether as to what career I may pursue when I retire from active football,''
Appiah revealed his love to go into coaching was motivated by his former team mate, Michael Essien and his other playing mates in Europe.
''They motivated me by suggesting that from the way I command a maximum respect from my teammates, it'd be prudent for me to become a coach, and also judging by the knowledge I've gained on and off the field as a player. They were certain that I'll succeed so I decided to ponder over it and I came to a conclusion that I've to take up my coaching course. I've already registered for the course and very soon, I'll acquire my certificate, which I'm looking forward to be working with in the near future.''
Appiah was Ghana's captain for the Black Stars, he featured at their maiden World Cup tournament in 2006, also going ahead to play at South Africa 2010 four years later.
Having retired from the Black Stars later in 2010, the former Fenerbahce man was a member of Ghana's team for the 2014 World Cup in a non-playing capacity.
In 2017, he was named as technical coordinator of the Black Stars, a role he held until December last year.