The Somalia Football Federation (SFF) has confirmed the appointment of Ghana’s Bashir Hayford as the new national team coach.
Hayford, who was in charge of hosts Ghana at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations last year, has signed a two-year contract replacing Somalia’s Mohamed Abdulla Farayare.
We’d like to thank Mr. Bashir Hayford for giving the Black Queens of Ghana care and attention beyond the call of duty. They wouldn't have been able to go far or be known as the best team without your inspiration, guidance, and encouragement. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/2hxnkbawXV
— Ghanaian Women Footballers (@GhanaianWomen) March 26, 2019
“We needed someone with a lot of experience to identify players and also help the other junior teams,” SFF president Abdiqani Said Arab told media reporters.
“He is going to start identifying players ahead of the 2020 Total Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier where we play Rwanda in the first round.”
The SFF will also appoint local coaches to work with Hayford for them to learn from his expertise.
Arab made it clear that now that the Somalia Premier League is more competitive, they hope to pick good players who can help the team perform well in international tournaments.
Somalia
Somalia have not participated in the campaigns for the Africa Cup of Nations since 2010 when it was a joint qualification with the World Cup.
They have lost in the preliminary round of qualifying for the last three World Cups.
Bashir Hayford named coach of Somalia. Confirmation came in earlier today. We will definitely miss his demeanour at post match pressers but above all our loss will be their gain. Hopefully it works out…
— Kawawa (@theyawofosu) March 25, 2019