Roger de Sa proud of Ghana's World Cup run despite England VAR frustration

The South African tactician served as assistant coach to Carlos Queiroz, who was only appointed in April, giving the technical team less than two weeks to prepare for the global showpiece. Despite the limited time together, Ghana reached the Last 32 before suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat to Colombia.

Looking back on the campaign, De Sa feels Ghana came close to claiming one of the biggest results in their history against England after being denied what many believed was a clear late penalty.

"England were always going to be difficult opponents, but we devised a plan, the players bought into it and it worked," De Sa told Forbes Africa.

"We earned a draw and could perhaps have won the game. As we said afterwards, if VAR had not gone for coffee, we probably would have received a penalty. I think even Stevie Wonder would have given it."

De Sa also praised the attitude of the Ghanaian players, describing their humility and commitment as one of the highlights of his time with the national team.
"One of the things that stood out was the humility of the Ghanaian players. They were willing to work, learn and give 100% every day," he said.

After opening the tournament with a victory over Panama and holding England, Ghana lost 2-1 to Croatia before a 1-0 defeat to Colombia ended their campaign.

"We took over a Ghana team that had lost six games in a row and only had about 10 days with the squad," De Sa added.

"Considering the players we had available and the limited preparation time, I felt it was a satisfactory performance overall."