Hughton plays valuable role for Ghana in the shadows

CHRIS Hughton sat high in the stands, stuck among the media in his green Ghanaian training garb, messaging down advice on a two-way radio to the bench as the west Africans beat South Korea to win their first points of the World Cup in Qatar.

The former Brighton manager, and Republic of Ireland international fullback, is a key but almost invisible member of the coaching team, looking now to plot the downfall of Uruguay today and win for Ghana a place in the last 16 of the tournament in Qatar.

Hughton, who turns 64 next month, has kept a low profile in Qatar in his role as technical adviser but there is little doubt he is an integral part of Ghana’s brains trust.

“He’s got a lot of experience and knowledge and he’s always trying to give his best for the team,” said coach Otto Addo, who was a surprise choice for Ghana after a disastrous African Nations Cup Finals in January and parachuted in only weeks ahead of their World Cup playoff against Nigeria in March.

Addo had no previous senior coaching experience but has been working at youth level in Germany for more than a decade. Hughton, whose father was born in Ghana and was visiting the country at the time, was asked to help.

Ghana scraped through that Nigeria tie, with some fortune, and the coaching team were kept in place for the World Cup.

“We have a very good relationship. Chris Hughton is a very experienced coach,” Addo added earlier this week.

“He takes a lot of things out of my head for me to concentrate on the team. And on the tactics, he’s also given advice.

“We have good exchanges with him, but also with the other coaches like George Boateng and Didi Dramani.”

Hughton has stayed in the shadows during the World Cup but in a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday said of his role: “I do feel a strong connection to the country. So when they asked if I was prepared to help, using my experience and knowledge, the answer was always going to be yes.”