There are phone calls that change careers, and then there is the kind of late-night text that Carlos Queiroz sends. Roger De Sa, Ghana’s newly-appointed assistant coach, knows exactly what that feels like.
The 61-year-old South African was among the first people to know that Queiroz was taking the Black Stars job – not because he was in any boardroom, but because his phone lit up in the small hours with a message from the veteran Portuguese tactician.
It is, by now, a familiar pattern between two men who have built something of a travelling coaching partnership across continents and tournaments.
“It was exciting to get the call, he texted me at 2:00, 3:00 in the morning,” De Sa told Beyond the Whistle.
“And I wake up early at about 5:00-6:00 and when I saw the message I said okay, the first thing I needed to do was tell my wife — but she’s become accustomed to it, she just asks, when you leaving, tomorrow?”
The answer, as it almost always is, was yes.
“I replied straight away, I just said let’s go,” De Sa said. “I didn’t have to think twice, it’s a World Cup and it’s Ghana. I think that’s enough for any football guy, to not have to think about it.”
The decision was instinctive. But the work that followed has been anything but casual.
A man Who Has Been Here Before
De Sa’s journey to this point is one of the more quietly remarkable stories in African football coaching. He kept goal for Bafana Bafana, then reinvented himself as a coach – most memorably taking Orlando Pirates to the CAF Champions League final in 2013.
His reunion with Queiroz has taken him to the 2022 World Cup with Iran, and now to the 2026 Mundial with Ghana.
It is a record that speaks to both his quality and his loyalty to a partnership that has also taken in stints with Egypt, Qatar, and Oman.
But this assignment has come with unusual urgency. Queiroz was only appointed after the GFA parted ways with Otto Addo in March, leaving the new coaching staff a matter of weeks to prepare for a World Cup.
“I’ve watched a lot of videos, game after game – I now fly out to Rome and Spain, Cagliari, to go and watch all the players,” De Sa explained.
“The coach is doing the same and the other staff members are doing the same, so it’s massive, the work-load now is crazy. We are trying to catch up as you can imagine.”
What He Found Left Him Stunned
For all the scramble, there has been an unexpected reward at the end of those scouting trips: the sheer quality of what Ghana has to offer.
“As an African football lover, the talent is unbelievable, it really is – you guys don’t know what talent you have,” De Sa said, speaking with the directness of a man who has seen football across multiple continents.
“With limited development structures, you guys have so much natural talent. In South Africa we have talent too but it’s different talent, and we have a lot of facilities, but don’t go forward with our talent. Yet here, it’s limited but the talent is unbelievable.”
The comparison with his homeland, who also qualified for the tournament, was telling. “South Africa also qualified for the World Cup and they only have three or four players in Europe and that’s a squeeze. Where here, every time I turn the corner I hear of another one, which is fantastic you know, it’s great to see.”
De Sa found himself mentally running through a list. “I was saying like this one, that one, that one, could easily play in my country and play for sure.
“I think it’s a sleeping giant…I think Ghana are on the verge of greatness again.”
Friday’s Test
Before the World Cup opens on June 11, Queiroz and De Sa have the chance to begin shaping their ideas in a friendly against Mexico in New York on Friday – a useful examination against one of the host nations on their home soil. It is the first of two warm-up matches, with a trip to Cardiff to face Wales to follow on June 2.
The Black Stars are in Group F alongside Portugal, Argentina, and Morocco – a group that will demand everything this squad has.
