GHANA VRS CROATIA PRE MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

[0:03] So, colleagues who shoot straight away, I'll pick the initial comments from the coach and the player and pick your questions. [0:12] Coach, we are heading into another battle tomorrow against Croatia. [0:18] Tell us about what has been transpiring in the team ahead of the match. [0:24] Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. [0:26] As I've been saying, it is for us the third part of one game, playing against a great team, which is Croatia with a lot of wonderful players, experienced players. [0:42] And for sure, it will be tough, intensive for both sides. [0:48] But at the end of the day, I do believe it will be a lot of fun in the entertainment body. [0:53] And I hope, with the inspiration of my players, that we'll be able to express good football, the best football on the day, on the pitch. [1:05] And if we're able to do that, I'm sure that we'll be close, no close win, which is the target that we have for mine, to play for win as always. [1:16] So, that's it. Simple like that. We're ready. We're ready for the match tomorrow. [1:23] Antoine, from the side of the players, what can you tell us? [1:28] Everyone's ready. Everyone was very happy with the result against England. [1:33] And we know how important this next game is. [1:36] We want to make sure we finish off right, get into the next round, and continue preparing, fighting as a team. [1:43] Like the coach said, it's going to be a tough game tomorrow. [1:46] But everyone's ready, everyone's excited, and yeah, good to go. [1:51] Colleague, there's no time for your questions. [1:55] John Bennett from BBC, question for Antoine, if that's okay? [2:07] Antoine, I think it's fair to say a lot of people wrote Garner off, a lot of pundits, experts, wrote Garner off before this tournament. [2:14] Do you think you guys have proved a point already, the way you've played? [2:18] What's made a difference for you in this tournament, particularly defensively, where it's two clean sheets so far? [2:25] Yeah, I mean, a lot of pundits wrote us off, and that's just opinion at the end of the day. [2:32] We know what we can do as a team. [2:35] The manager's obviously come in, brought in his philosophy, and it's worked out perfectly for us. [2:40] We're a lot more defensively solid, for sure. [2:43] And, yeah, we can definitely create chances. [2:47] So, yeah, it's been great so far. [2:50] And what was the second part of the question? [2:52] Yeah, what the coach has brought in to really improve you defensively? [2:57] Obviously, with his experience from coaching in England, he's just brought everyone together. [3:13] Sorry, sounds all good. [3:17] Yeah, like I was saying, with his experience from coaching in England and various countries, [3:22] he's obviously very defensive. [3:25] He's brought in a unit, and I like to think we weren't as defensively solid before. [3:32] And that was one of our main things. [3:34] We scored goals, but we conceded a lot as well. [3:36] So, I feel like now we're in a position where everyone's defending together, everyone's focused. [3:41] And, yeah, it's hard to break us down, which is great. [3:44] Very powerful, TDT, Ghana, English. [3:53] Question to Kuros and then Antoine. [3:56] For Kuros, my question is, we were at the Boston Stadium pre-match, [4:01] and we asked you what type of game to expect. [4:05] You said that huge entertainment. [4:08] Ghana ended up with a couple of shots, not too many attacking patterns, [4:15] but in the end, they were still happy because they got a point against England. [4:19] What does entertainment really mean to you as a coach? [4:22] Just wanted to clarify that for the fans. [4:24] And then for Antoine, how different is it playing in a set-up where, as a winger on the wings, [4:31] you need to work harder off the ball, and maybe you don't have as much off the ball that you would want, [4:37] because out of the 48 teams at the World Cup, after our first two games, we have the lowest average possession. [4:43] This is a philosophic question. [4:46] What is entertainment in football? [4:51] For me, entertainment in this game, some people call it football, I call it the winning business. [5:01] It is to fight 90 minutes for the result to win. [5:06] I mean, the only medicine that works in football is to win. [5:12] You can see everybody happy around us. [5:15] For me, it was really a football match. [5:21] The game we play was a really football match, the game that happened against England. [5:28] For some people, when they see a game with the result 6-1 or 7-1, it is entertainment from one side, [5:38] the other are the clubs and the pitch. [5:41] I did not want to make that role, and I don't want that my players, when they play one game, [5:47] they don't put everything in the game to win the game, to compete at a high level. [5:52] So, for me, this is the meaning of entertainment, emotional, technically drama, drama in the game. [6:02] And I think the game against England have everything, drama, emotion, the effort, sacrifices of the players. [6:12] It was wonderful. [6:15] And I think tomorrow it will be another game. [6:20] We will see if the game is rock and roll, some or tango, I don't know. [6:25] One thing it is, sure, all teams then have to be ready to play the game that is in front of us. [6:33] And at the end, for me, I like to be proud of myself, proud of my players, proud of the work that they did for the fans. [6:48] And when the fans are happy, we can be happy. [6:51] Because we work in the entertainment business, and that's our job, to make people happy. [6:57] Okay, Antoine, there is a question about how difficult it is to play in a system where you have to defend and also run without the ball. [7:08] Was that a question? [7:09] Yeah. [7:10] Run a lot without the ball. [7:11] Okay. [7:12] Yeah, as an attacker, of course, you want to be higher up the pitch, scoring goals, creating chances. [7:17] But I feel like the last game, we knew we were going to be defending a lot. [7:22] And again, it's what's most important for the team. [7:25] If we need to defend as a team for 90 minutes to get a result, that's what we have to do. [7:29] I've been in the team previously, Bournemouth, where a lot of the time we were defending. [7:33] So I'm quite, quite used to it. [7:35] But yeah, it's what's needed for the team. [7:38] And yeah, that's all. [7:40] My name is Michael. [7:45] I have two questions. [7:46] One for coach and one for that coach. [7:48] In Toronto and in Boston, we saw you express yourself quietly after the game with your celebrations. [7:57] You've also said that there was a pleasant thing to get through game after game. [8:01] So for the game against Croatia, with four points already, what's the topmost priority for you? [8:08] I know it's interesting to quantify, but how much? [8:10] And if you can just give us a bit of insight into the celebration and the emotions that you felt match after match, [8:17] especially with going to get Ghana fans after us. [8:20] And for Antoine, I'm just wondering, given the change in the mood in Ghana, [8:25] because this has become way bigger than it used to be, what's seeping through the players? [8:31] Where do you want to go next, given the way the tournament has gone so far? [8:36] Thank you. [8:39] Well, look, I said it before and I repeat it again. [8:42] If you check the results in this World Cup, number of draws and some surprises. [8:49] To win, to win in football, it is special in this level, it is very expensive, very expensive. [8:59] You have to pay a lot of sacrifices and efforts to be able to win or get a win result. [9:06] So when you achieve those moments, if you don't celebrate, when are you going to celebrate? [9:14] So it's an opportunity to express yourself through the joy and the pride that you feel. [9:20] But special, I thought, to be honest with you, that my body language at the end of the day was to share my feelings with the Ghanian fans. [9:38] Because I felt that before the World Cup, around our boys, our team, there was a lot of hesitations, suspicions and not confidence. [9:52] So to engage and bring the player number 12 inside the pitch is very important for us. [9:59] So that's why even before the game finished, I was confident that we could do it against one of mine. [10:05] I was chasing the people to support them, who want to be a party. [10:10] The fans, they need to understand that the boys, nobody more than the boys, they want to win the game. [10:15] No more than them. [10:18] But sometimes it is important that player number 12 also understand his role in the game. [10:23] And that's why we are trying to bring them to the game with strong emotions and strong feelings of trust and confidence. [10:33] I think all the players are happy, they're content with what's going on right now. [10:38] We're not trying to get ahead of ourselves. [10:40] We know that tomorrow is an important game. [10:43] We want to make sure we solidify that qualification. [10:45] But I think every player is ambitious. [10:48] Everyone wants to push on, get through to the next run and see what happens. [10:51] We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. [10:53] Hi, my name is Faito from Joy Sports. [11:01] Hello, Carlos. [11:02] I have a question for you and then one part. [11:07] My first question would be, if you look at the permutations, if we finish top of the group, we are going to our class. [11:16] If we finish second, we are going to Toronto. [11:20] And if we finish third, we are going to Camsile City. [11:24] If we go to Toronto, we are going to Mars again. [11:28] That's this play. [11:33] It has this big factor. [11:36] The game of football is so difficult. [11:43] You cannot play two games or three games at the same time. [11:46] We just focus on one game, which is Croatia, and get the result. [11:52] Play good football. [11:54] With good football, be better than them on the pitch. [11:59] That's what I'm going to try to do. [12:02] Fight more, be better. [12:04] Because we know if we are able to do that, we have more chances to get the result. [12:09] That's the only game that we play tomorrow. [12:13] When the results come at the end of the game, we will be there to make decisions. [12:19] If we trust second or third. [12:21] But there is one thing that every single coach knows before we start in the group stage. [12:27] We take one of those positions. [12:30] I guarantee if you give in that opportunity even before you play, nobody deny to have one of those positions. [12:37] We don't have any problems with that. [12:40] But the important thing is to play one game. [12:43] Only one game. [12:44] And the game is big enough tomorrow against Croatia to play other games outside the pitch. [12:52] My other question, obviously. [12:54] The penalty incident against England. [12:56] We also had a similar incident against Palabar. [12:59] That also wasn't reviewed. [13:00] The one against England wasn't reviewed. [13:02] From the players' point of view, I'm fine. [13:05] You were closest to me, actually. [13:07] There's been a lot of conversation among the Guineafars, especially, [13:10] that you guys don't try to be aggressively pushed for it. [13:17] Did you see what happened? [13:19] And what's the conversation been like after that? [13:22] Because certainly the replay showed that Palabar should have had a plan. [13:27] Yeah, it's funny you say that we talked about it in training today. [13:30] I think as players we need to gang around the referee and complain. [13:36] You could say something like that. [13:38] But yeah, I was right next to it. [13:40] I was the first one to put my hands up because I was right next to it, like I said. [13:44] But yeah, I think as a team we need to be more aggressive around the officials. [13:48] Whether they're staying down longer as a player or obviously the coach is on the sideline, [13:53] pestering the fourth official. [13:55] Yeah, I think that's what we need to do. [13:57] Because it is quite frustrating that they haven't checked it twice now. [14:01] The coach will feed you guys back from coffee break now. [14:06] Your question is a very interesting question. [14:11] Because in the game, I listen many times when these incidents happen, [14:16] they come to me, they say, they used to say, [14:20] oh, your players, they didn't even protest. [14:22] If they protest, they get yellow cars. [14:25] So we don't know where we should stand. [14:29] But I really think it is important before this game. [14:37] The question doesn't have nothing to do with what happened in the last two games. [14:42] So they don't deserve, in this press conference, [14:44] that we talked too much about what happened in the past. [14:47] The fact is, we should be qualified with 6 points in this month. [14:51] Because we have a good rate scoring penalties. [14:55] And we think that if the penalties happen, we should be qualified of that. [15:00] But Croatia deserve our respect, full respect. [15:03] So we don't know what to bring to this press conference, [15:06] quite a lot of issues that should be in the hands of FIFA. [15:13] Because VAR was born in 2016, 2018 was the first World Cup. [15:21] 10 years is gone. [15:24] There is no excuse, no reason for VAR not to be better than this. [15:28] No excuse. [15:29] So it's time for FIFA authorities. [15:34] They review what has been happening since. [15:40] And I don't want to extend my comments. [15:43] But one thing, it is clear. [15:46] When VAR comes, it was to help the referee for the referee [15:52] and make good decisions. [15:56] And we hope that will be better next time. [16:02] Karl from GBC. [16:04] I don't know if I'm allowed to ask you and me a question. [16:09] If not, I'll push it aside and go to Karl. [16:13] But with Karl, the first question probably would be that [16:17] you are old enough to remember that it seems as if Ghana [16:25] is playing like Italy of the 70s and the 80s, [16:31] where it fed him numbers and hit people on the brink. [16:36] In quotation marks, that has not been the tradition of [16:43] Ghanaian football for years. [16:45] Are you checking the way the Black Stars will be playing now? [16:52] Because for the first two matches, it would be one heck of, [16:56] how do you call it, three lines, three lines over five. [17:00] And then when they hit the brink, what happened when the penalty [17:03] was not given? [17:05] So I'd like to get a comment on that. [17:07] And then also, the question that would you ask? [17:12] I think it's so important. [17:14] No, thanks. [17:15] I think it's also important. [17:17] Does it mean that, much as we're taking it game by game, [17:21] does it mean that if we do get back into Canada? [17:26] Let's assume it's the second final. [17:28] We're still going to be saying, okay, [17:31] Canada ain't going to get Part A, a visa, [17:34] so therefore we're going to go without it? [17:36] Thank you. [17:39] Brilliant questions. [17:41] And you're going to get brilliant answers, I expect. [17:46] First of all, you talk about Italy in the year 70s and 80s. [17:53] I was there, the people was happy. [17:55] And I've been in Italy three months ago when they're not qualified. [17:58] You cannot even imagine what they think about the coaches [18:01] that they played. [18:02] So you think now they are more happy because they're not in the [18:06] World Cup after all these years. [18:08] I think no matter how they play in the 70s or 80s, [18:14] they've been achieving great results. [18:18] And football, it is all about that. [18:20] So for me, it's simple answer to your question. [18:23] It's winning business. [18:25] If I have to, and the boys they show that, [18:29] if they have to dance rock and roll, 90 minutes, [18:34] and in one minute score a mean, I'm very happy for you guys [18:40] to have the resilience, the power to fight for yourself in the game. [18:48] Because we don't play alone. [18:50] It's the misunderstanding of your question. [18:53] It is based on the teams that play alone. [18:56] We don't play alone. [18:57] We have other teams in front of us. [18:59] They express themselves and they have to answer to the way they are playing. [19:04] The second part was, again, we, as I said, we have to play one game each time. [19:19] But I think your second question should be addressed to the visa authorities of Canada, [19:27] not me. [19:28] As far as I know, I want to go now. [19:30] But I'm answering to you. [19:36] I'm challenging to say, you should ask those questions. [19:39] You are the press. [19:40] You are the guys that have the power to inform people and probably influence the public opinion, [19:48] not us. [19:49] This is not our job. [19:50] Our job it is to respect the decisions, accept the decisions that they make. [19:55] If you ask me if I agree with that, I don't agree with that. [19:59] But you, as members of the press, you have the power to ask the right questions to people. [20:06] We are in the World Cup. [20:08] And what is the reason that one of our players was stopped to travel to Canada? [20:15] We don't know. [20:16] We have to ask them because we don't know what is that reason. [20:19] One thing it is sure. [20:21] Tomorrow we have one game. [20:24] We're going to play the best we can, fight as much as possible to get the best result. [20:32] And the best result it is to be number one, number two, number three. [20:38] It doesn't matter. [20:39] We have to play the game tomorrow and respect the team of Croatia as they respect us. [20:45] And both teams try to achieve the best. [20:48] Whatever happens outside the game is not part of our business. [20:53] Politics, we leave those things, we do that. [20:56] Coach, I just wanted to ask you. [20:59] I know you said that it's not in Europe and you're going to accept the decision. [21:03] But I wanted to find out if you would at least try again to see if you can get Thomas into Canada if we finish second as a coach. [21:12] And then my second question to Ant. [21:15] Ant, against Panama you had 36 touches. [21:18] Against England you had 20 touches. [21:19] I know you said you played for the team, a board multi-defender. [21:22] But is there a part of you that just wants to score? [21:25] Because you're the main man and you're a striker and strikers live by goals. [21:29] Is there something in you that really says, I could feel better with a goal against Croatia? [21:36] I don't think they are really happy with this. [21:41] I think we have to do something more. [21:48] Of course. [21:49] Yeah, you can answer Ant. [21:53] Yeah, naturally as a striker you want to score goals. [21:57] I think for me that's one thing I've been knocking myself about. [22:01] But at the same time if the opportunities aren't coming there's not much I can do. [22:05] I think again what's most important is what the team needs at the end of the day. [22:10] And when I get my opportunity I like to think I'll take it. [22:13] So I just have to be ready on my toes and mentally strong. [22:17] Carlos, in the aftermath of the England draw a lot of your former players from Manchester United, [22:23] Paul Scholes, Nicky Buck, Gary Neville, they were saying that that match was a copy [22:28] of the famous 0-0 draw with Barcelona at the Nou Camp. [22:31] They said same style, same methods. [22:34] Is it true you used the same training methods, the same training drills as 2008? [22:39] And were you taking inspiration from that match against United? [22:42] No, not really. [22:45] Really in that time we knew that we played different styles. [22:51] Football, famous to Qatar and Barcelona, we have to adjust our football. [23:00] We might like that. [23:01] I think that was for the last century. [23:04] That came up and happened in the last century. [23:08] And with all due respect for your question, I think this is experience. [23:16] This is about the experience that you have in the game of 40 something years of experience. [23:22] And it is my duty to put in every single decision that I made those 40 years of, [23:29] more than 40 years of football. [23:31] So, the English team come with a fantastic balance, dynamic, positive feeling of results. [23:44] In 10 matches, they always score against some of the best teams in the world. [23:53] And it was important to know who is in front of us. [23:57] How can we manage to play one game that we want to win? [24:04] And my belief is that when we start to play one game that we want to win without conceding goals, [24:11] we have good chances to finish the game and win. [24:17] So, that was the approach. [24:22] The boys, they know, we didn't have a plan to train too much. [24:25] Because it's not possible to train too much under these conditions. [24:30] It was just to create some guidelines. [24:33] And by the way, the thing that is really common in both games, [24:39] when we talk about defensive, it is wrong. [24:44] We played in 90 minutes. [24:48] We played in 90 minutes attacking the players, attacking the spaces, attacking the ball, [25:06] attacking the time, reducing time, reducing space, [25:09] during 90 minutes with the English team. [25:11] So, this is our approach in the mind when you don't have the ball [25:16] and you have to have this attitude of attacking. [25:18] So, we'll be there, we'll be in the space before they arrive. [25:21] We'll fight for the ball before they come. [25:24] We'll be on the spaces and you will attack the spaces, attack the ball, attack the free players. [25:28] 90 minutes. [25:29] That's what I said. [25:30] Well done to us. [25:31] Congratulations. [25:32] About the opposition team, the Croatia, [25:36] they will attack during the match to get the second place. [25:41] How do you prepare this match, this kind of match? [25:45] And have you done something special for Modric? [25:48] The player that you mentioned is one of the most green players in football history in the last few years. [25:56] But we know, we know that they have a good team, they play good football against England. [26:03] I think after I saw the game several times, they even deserve better results. [26:13] I think the result for two was too happy for Croatia. [26:16] That's why we are four-elect. [26:18] We know that that result doesn't really show the capabilities of Croatia [26:23] and they prove it against Panama. [26:25] So that's why tomorrow we only have one option. [26:28] We have to come out more strong and better. [26:31] That's the only option that we have. [26:34] And the game after, we need to come out more strong and better. [26:39] And more strong and better. [26:40] Every day, every match, we have to grow up. [26:43] I mean, I just have to be ready at the end of the day. [26:45] I think I'm content in the sense of doing what the team needs, of course. [26:50] But then as a striker, you always have to be ready. [26:53] That one chance can change the whole game. [26:55] So I'm always on my toes in that sense, mentally ready. [26:58] And yeah, I think what the team needs is most important and the goals will follow. [27:06] Boss, you wanted to find out your thought process going into the next game. [27:10] Well, I can tell you one thing. [27:15] We talk about defensive attack. [27:18] I only have one way to play the game. [27:22] It is play for win. [27:24] Play for win. [27:26] And that's what we're going to do tomorrow. [27:29] Express ourselves. [27:31] The freedom to enjoy and play football, good football. [27:37] And during 90 minutes with the same concentration, the same resilience, [27:43] the only thing that I asked her, it is to never lose, never lose one second in the mind [27:50] that wish to score, that wish to go there and build up the result to win the game. [27:59] All our training sessions are based on creating opportunities to score, [28:03] creating opportunities to score, keep the ball. [28:06] And win. [28:07] And tomorrow, we hope that we can express better and more consistent with this kind of football. [28:17] And at the end, get the result to make people happy. [28:22] We're not here to make you happy about your defensive appreciation about the game. [28:27] It's not my job. [28:28] My job is to make people of Ghana happy with the results and achievements, [28:33] to make them proud of the performance of the team. [28:37] I remember when I see these guys in the city when they have to play Arsenal, [28:44] how much you guys have to defend, right? [28:47] Sometimes you're not even able to beat when you're in your ball. [28:52] And I still remember against Barcelona, by the way. [28:56] They asked me if BBC, they asked me, you don't think you defend too deep? [29:01] I said, well, he did not defend behind the goal line because the referee doesn't allow us to do that. [29:07] When you have, when you fight for life, when you fight for life for Champions League, [29:13] you win a World Championship. [29:15] Man, you have to do everything that is in power to win the game. Everything. [29:22] I feel like spending time with each other so much, you get to understand players on a personal level, [29:28] which is nice. And yeah, it's been good for me as a player. I've enjoyed it. [29:32] And I think the results on top have been great as well. [29:36] So we just have to continue with the togetherness, enjoying each other's company, [29:40] and then being ready for the games. [29:42] I just emphasize again my main point. [29:49] And I really want to apologize for this lack of attention during this press conference. [29:58] I think the game of tomorrow, they deserve more focus. [30:02] And my final words, it is exactly to emphasize this. [30:07] Tomorrow, we play a great team with a lot of experience in the game. [30:12] Players that have played World Championship, European Championship. [30:16] I mean, we have to be full alert to play against a team that is solid. [30:23] They need the result. They come to get the result. [30:27] And they have them both. We have our goals. [30:31] At the end, that's what happens. [30:33] We hope that we'll be able to do the best team on the pitch. [30:37] That's what we try to do all the time. [30:40] Thank you. This concludes the press conference. [30:42] Thank you very much and all the best for tomorrow match. [30:44] Next press conference today with Croatia at 7pm. [30:47] Thank you very much. [30:48] Thank you. [30:49] Thank you.