Ghana's bottom-placed Black Stars turn to Kim Lars Björkegren for the Somalia double-header, and the GFA says the Swede is itching to go.
Ghana's Black Stars have a new man on the touchline, and the GFA insists he is ready. Kim Lars Björkegren, the Swedish coach of the Black Queens, will take interim charge of the senior men's team for two 2027 AFCON qualifiers against Somalia in November, and he is keeping his women's job while he does it.
GFA Communications Director Henry Asante Twum says the 44-year-old has taken the call-up in his stride. Speaking on TV3, he said he spent a day with the coach and came away convinced Björkegren wants this. "He loves the challenge," Asante Twum said, adding that the coach feels it is time to test himself at a new level.
The timing is hard. Ghana sit bottom of Group C with zero points after losses to Côte d'Ivoire and The Gambia, results that came before Carlos Queiroz's exit. The Somalia games now look like a chance to stop the slide and put Ghana back in the qualifying race.
Björkegren will have support. Ibrahim Tanko and Godwin Attram are his assistants, and Fatawu Dauda comes in as goalkeepers' coach.
The obvious question is how he balances the two roles, with the Black Queens preparing for their FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs. Asante Twum has pointed to the different international windows as the reason the arrangement can work. Björkegren will have to deliver on both fronts for that argument to hold.
