Black Stars assistant coach and former worldwide, John Paintsil, has make clear the inception of the Black Stars’ custom of welcoming new gamers with a dance ritual.
In current years, the Black Stars have gained recognition for fostering camaraderie amongst crew members by way of this distinctive custom that dates again to 2007.
The crew has established a tradition the place newly invited gamers are required to entertain their teammates by performing a welcome dance upon becoming a member of the squad. This follow has turn out to be synonymous with the Black Stars, with gamers reminiscent of Inaki Williams, Kyereh, and quite a few others taking part on this crew ritual throughout their debut call-ups.
The mastermind behind this custom, John Paintsil, previously a participant for the Black Stars, has now been appointed as an assistant coach beneath Otto Addo, who has been given the nod to move the crew for his second time period.
Paintsil, who loved camaraderie throughout his time with the nationwide crew, disclosed that he launched this follow throughout his enjoying days as a way to foster unity and cohesion amongst teammates.
He reminisced about how he initiated this ritual, starting with star participant Andre Ayew, who now captains the crew.
“It was very tough and difficult to communicate amongst the stars, when players arrived, they were all scattered around different places, so I was sitting down and I said football without unity you can’t go. So, I came up with this dance as every first-time player, when you come, you must dance, compulsory. So, Dede was sitting down and Muntari and I just went to drag him. So, it has been there since and these things always bring us together as it keeps all of us going,” he stated.
Paintsil, who just lately transitioned into teaching after an illustrious enjoying profession, expressed his satisfaction that the custom has endured past his era of gamers. He believes that sustaining this tradition will proceed to strengthen crew unity and communication, each on and off the sphere.
The former right-back had an illustrious profession with over 80 appearances for the nationwide crew and over 90 premier league appearances, having performed for Fulham and Westham.
Having began his profession in 1999, Painstil went on to play at two World Cups as he was a part of the crew that featured in Ghana’s maiden participation on the 2006 and 2010 World Cup in Germany, South Africa, and 5 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
ah john paintsil too he idiot like that?🤣🤣🤣🤣pic.twitter.com/0ALFf0VaOU
— Orlando 🎈🇬🇭 (@starboyorlando_) March 24, 2024
Regarded as one of the crucial profitable Ghanaian footballers in current occasions, Painstil introduced his retirement in 2016 after which began a brand new profession in teaching as he grew to become an assistant coach for Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa between 2016 and 2017.
Following his retirement, Paintsil expressed his intention to contribute considerably to Ghanaian soccer by leveraging his expertise in creating golf equipment from grassroots ranges into robust entities. This aspiration has now materialised together with his appointment as an assistant coach for the Black Stars.
However, his debut as an assistant coach didn’t unfold as anticipated, because the crew endured a disappointing 2-1 loss to arch-rivals Nigeria in Marrakech. This defeat has undoubtedly supplied the technical crew with invaluable insights and concerns as they put together for his or her upcoming match in opposition to Uganda on Tuesday.
Highlighting the significance of fostering unity inside the crew, Paintsil additionally reminisced a couple of essential second throughout the 2006 World Cup match in opposition to the USA, the place the crew’s present coach and former teammate, Otto Addo, got here to his rescue. It was their collective unity that prevented his mistake from negatively impacting the crew.
“Our head coach I remember in 2006 World Cup against USA, I missed my move and Dempsey was clean through on goal, I felt I was done because during that time you make a mistake in the national team and you don’t return. I turned around and I saw him, he trekked for me and won the ball and I was saved. That is why I said you play for your teammates so I’d say thank you very much for keeping this going,” he additional added.
Despite going through criticism from followers over his appointment, John Paintsil alongside the technical crew are decided to place in additional effort to revive the enjoyment that the Black Stars as soon as delivered to their supporters.
Frank-Kamal Acheampong|3Sports|Ghana