Beard man Grant hopes for better luck in Gabon

Effah 06:01 - 12 January 2017

Grant is not simply banking on the beard, though. He has been impressed with the attitude of his team during their Nations Cup camping period in Al Ain and expects the Black Stars to be strong in Gabon.

At the 2015 Nations Cup, it was Avram Grant’s famous blue shirt that drew a lot of attention. In Gabon 2017 it would be his beard.

The Israeli has not had a shave in a while and has revealed to TV3 Network it is all part of the plan to win the 2017 Nations Cup.

Grant famously wore the same blue shirt after Ghana’s victory over Algeria and did not lose an official game in two years till Egypt beat the Black Stars in November 2017.

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The blue shirt was not enough to help Ghana win the Nations Cup on penalties against Ivory Coast despite going 2-0 up in the shootout. In Gabon 2017, it would be the beard, inspired by a prediction from his daughter.

“The blue shirt served me very well by the way. I remember when I wore, my wife said ‘it is ugly but wear it’ and I stayed with it for two years when we didn’t lose so now we need a new shirt.” the Israeli said.

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“I am not a guy that believes in superstition but I never take a chance to go against it. My daughter said to do it and you will win the cup so I don’t know what to do. I am not taking chances.”

“Our target it is still the same. We were in the final the last time and we want to be there again. This time when we get there, it would be a different story.”

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“We came here to do something good. It’s ok to say we want to win but it would be unprofessional to think we will just get it. There are a lot of very good teams in this tournament. There are other very good teams. All of them have the same quality I think. There is no team that is miles apart and there is no weak team but we are not looking at other teams; we need to do our job. We have a tough group; all the teams are good and each can cause problems but first we need to qualify and then see,” Grant added.