The Ghana Football Association have on Tuesday night, announced the appointment former Cameroon coach, Winfired Schafer as the fresh technical director of the Black Stars replacing fellow countryman Bernhard Lippert who left his role in October 2023 after expiration of his three-year contract.
Winfred’s appointment comes after GFA ExCo’s reviewed head coach of the Black Otto Addo’s 56-page report following Ghana’s calamitous 2025 African Cup of Nations qualification round where the four-time African Champions failed to win even a single game in a total of six games against opponents like Niger, Sudan and Angola.
The seasoned German tactician who guided the Indomitable Lions to their fourth African Cup of Nation crown in 2002 (defeating Senegal 3–2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 0–0 draw in the final) just after a year of his appointment has also been contracted to serve as a Technical Advisor of the Black Stars where he is expected to work in connection with head coach Otto Addo to rebuild the fallen Black Stars team as confirmed by the Ghana Football Association.
The Bundesliga winner was shortlisted among other candidates for the Zimbabwe top role in July 2024 during the country’s latest FIFA Normalization Era.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing recruitment process for the Zimbabwe men’s national team head coach. After an exhaustive search and meticulous selection process, the following applicants have been interviewed for the position: Gerard Nus, Michael Nees, Marcio Maximo Barcellos, Antoine Hey and Winfried Schäfer,” Zifa said in a statement.
Winfried Schafer, 77, assumes the role having excelled in a managerial career spanning a little over 40 years working with a number of National teams (Cameroon, Thailand and Jamaica) as well as European clubs including Borussia Monchengladbach, Karlsruher SC, VFB Stuttgart and Borussia Berlin.
During his time with the Indomitable Lions, he supervised 33 games, won 14 and drew 11 and lost 8 times.
Schafer has also coached in the United Arab Emirates, working with top clubs namely Al Ain, Al-Ahli Dubai, Baniyas and Al-Khor. In late January 2021, Schäfer became the head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Khor to help them in a difficult situation. Results and performance improved relatively, the team remained in the league after win 3–1 in the play-off match against Al-Shahania. On 11 November 2021, he left Qatar after his contract was terminated.
