Former Black Stars midfielder Derek Boateng has criticised former coach Milovan Rajevac for not doing anything extraordinary to achieve the team’s quarter-final feat at the 2010 World Cup.
Rajevac led the Black Stars to the last eight, making them the third African nation, at the time, to achieve that on the world stage.
Before that, the Serbian trainer had led the team to their first Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in 18 years, where they narrowly lost to Egypt.
However, Boateng, who played under Rajevac during those successes, has downplayed the coach’s efforts, indicating that the quality of players at his disposal was the main factor for his success.
According to the former Panathinaikos player, foreign coaches, including Rajevac, have done little to help the national team.
“All of the foreign coaches we had while with the Black Stars, including Milovan Rajevac, were clueless. To be honest, we had a great team. During the 2010 World Cup, Quincy Owusu Abeyie, Sulley Muntari, and other top players were on the bench, which speaks volumes about the calibre of our team.
“We were playing in top clubs and leagues at the time, so Milovan Rajevac and other foreign coaches did nothing out of the ordinary.
“We trained as if we were playing a match, and every player worked hard to get into the starting lineup.” Looking at the squad, there was serious competition in the team, and those foreign coaches did nothing in my opinion,” he told Asempa FM.
Milovan Rajevac was reappointed to lead the team after the exit of Charles Akonnor. However, despite leading the team to the World Cup qualification playoff, the team recorded one of their worst AFCON result in Cameroon where they failed to proceed to the knockout stage.
Milovan was sacked after the tournament and replaced by Otto Addo in March 2022. Addo’s technical advisor Chris Hughton is now in charge of the senior national team.