Daniel Opare disappointed with Ghana's football struggles

Former Ghana defender Daniel Opare has issued a stern warning about the future of the senior national team, declaring that the Black Stars are doomed to years of struggle if football administrators do not immediately shift their focus and resources to grassroots development.

Speaking on TV3's Mundial Daily on Tuesday night, the 2009 U-20 World Cup winner expressed deep anger over how youth football is being managed in the country, calling the current system "a joke".

"I think we are playing a lot. It's a joke. And when I say things like this, it really makes me angry to talk about it. And when you speak, they say you talk too much. But this is the truth. I'm telling them the Federation needs to do better," Opare said.

The former Real Madrid Castilla defender criticised the saturation of meaningless fixtures and the lack of support for developmental leagues, urging the Ghana Football Association to completely rethink its approach.

According to Opare, reviving Ghanaian football starts with a deliberate financial commitment to the foundational levels of the game, specifically targeting local colts (youth) teams.

"They need to encourage the Colts teams. They need to push the money there. They need to make sure that these young ones get the facilities for them to improve," he said.

Opare also lamented the state of the country's sports infrastructure, warning that poor facilities are actively harming young players.

**"When it comes to these kinds of things [hosting of tournaments], we have to invest big to improve facilities. And truth be spoken, our facilities are poor. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like because I'm a Ghanaian, I wouldn't tell the truth. Our facilities are poor. The teams don't have good facilities. I think that we are not taking football seriously. And it's killing the younger generations because that is where we all developed from,"** he said.

Without this critical pipeline of talent, Opare warned that the decline of the senior national team will only worsen, as the local ecosystem will simply fail to produce high-calibre players.

**"Otherwise, the Black Stars is going to keep on suffering, struggling for years to come because we are not going to get the product to supply. And that's the truth."

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