There is a particular kind of joy that comes with walking into a new dressing room and finding a familiar face. Roger De Sa found two.
Ghana’s new assistant coach has settled quickly into the Black Stars setup, and part of the reason has been the warm welcome from two men he has history with – defender-turned-coach John Pantsil and goalkeeper coach Fatau Dauda.
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“It’s been good and meeting John [Pantsil] and [Fatau] Dauda, I knew them from South Africa,” De Sa said via Beyond the Whistle.
“Dauda was my goalkeeper at Orlando Pirates and John was a tough opposition.”
De Sa’s bond with Dauda stretches back to his time at the helm of Orlando Pirates, where the Ghanaian shot-stopper was under his care.
Pantsil, meanwhile, was on the other side of the divide, first at Santos and Maritzburg United as a player – then as an assistant coach at Kaizer Chiefs a combative presence De Sa encountered across the South African topflight.
The reunion has given the new coaching setup a natural warmth, even amid the whirlwind preparation for a World Cup that is now just weeks away.
“It’s fantastic to see them and that’s what football does,” De Sa reflected. “
“We have a short time with them as colleagues, but friendships never die, it’s forever. Once again it proved again — when I saw them, I was like, here we go again.”
Ghana will face Mexico and Wales in preparation fixtures before taking on Panama, England and Croatia in Group L next month.
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