Ghana's Next Generation in Qatar 2022

Photo credit: Pro Shots (Source: Soccernews.nl)

This winter, Ghana will his fourth FIFA World Cup appearance. After beating their fiercest West African rivals in Nigeria on away goals to travel to Qatar, the Black Stars are not coming to the Middle East just to compete, but to compete.

Ghana are back at the World Cup for the first time since 2014, after an eight-year hiatus from international football. Head coach Otto Addo has repeatedly said the job isn't done yet. Like the rest of the team, he knows that returning to the World Cup stage is a fantastic achievement, but it's only the beginning.

The Black Stars enter this tournament as the lowest ranked team, ranked 61st in the world. Still, that doesn't represent the quality the West African side possess and won't deter them from their aspirations for the inaugural Winter World Cup - Group H features Ghana with two former World Cup opponents. The scars of 2010 and Luis Suárez's handball are still deep. Revenge is on Ghana's mind, but they will need to be at their best to beat their foes.

The nation has been in a rather conflicted but painful state of mind since that infamous outing. The "what ifs" still resonate, a belief they failed to fully capitalize on what at the time seemed like one of Ghana's finest footballing eras. The optimism sparked by the incredible run in 2010 quickly dissipated among football fans nationwide. A lack of ambition to continue and build on what is still, to date, Africa's best result at a World Cup.

2014 showed how far Ghana was from its old self of four years ago. A tournament rife with drama and controversy that was a constant distraction from what needed to be done on the pitch. A disconnect between the Ghana Football Prosecution (GFA), staff, players and fans is another negative.

Fast forward eight years, the structure around the national team has seen some changes, on and off the pitch. Otto Addo sums up this new look from Ghana. So let's take a look at the structural changes that have taken place, on and off the pitch:

Breakdown of Ghana structure on and off the pitch

The main aspect of Ghana's rebirth as a footballing nation has been its structural changes. Out Milovan Rajevac, and in comes former Borussia Dortmund defender and first-team assistant coach Otto Addo. Chris Hughton and George Boateng also followed, the former serving as Technical Director and the latter teaming up with Addo to assist on the coaching side. These changes were seen as short-term appointments for their qualification for this World Cup, but they exceeded expectations to the point where...