South African coach Roger de Sa has described his time with Ghana’s national team as a memorable and rewarding experience, despite spending only three to four months with the Black Stars coaching staff.

De Sa, who served as assistant coach under Carlos Queiroz, was part of the technical team that guided Ghana to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. He left his position in July following the tournament and returned to South Africa.

The former Ghana assistant coach said the opportunity to participate in another World Cup had been a significant highlight of his career, while also allowing him to work with some of the finest players in international football, including Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo.

Speaking to iDiski Times, De Sa described his involvement with Ghana as a positive experience and highlighted the exceptional standards associated with football’s biggest international tournament.

“Obviously, doing the Ghana gig for the World Cup was fantastic,” De Sa told iDiski Times.

“It was my third World Cup as a coach. It is a pinnacle of football. I must admit that when you’re involved in the World Cup, you realise it’s the cream of the crop – the organisation, stadiums, hotels, the level of the players there is nothing you can fault.”

The 2026 tournament represented De Sa’s third appearance at a World Cup as a coach, having previously worked as an assistant with Portugal in 2010 and Iran during the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

He said his experiences at the three competitions had continued to improve, with the most recent tournament in North America leaving a particularly strong impression.

“Since I started in 2010, it’s kind of getting better and better, Qatar was fantastic, USA was unbelievable as well,” he added.

De Sa also spoke positively about the quality of players he had encountered throughout his international coaching career. His work with Ghana provided an opportunity to engage with Semenyo, whom he included among the outstanding talents he had worked with.

His coaching journey has also brought him into contact with prominent international footballers, including Egypt captain Mohamed Salah and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

“To work with such national teams, I had an opportunity to work with phenomenal players like Semenyo, all top players you can think of.

“I worked with Egypt, Moh Salah, I had an opportunity to coach Ronaldo in 2010. It’s been a fantastic journey, most enjoyable. It was long, hard, lots of travelling, lots of visiting clubs and players.

“The Ghana stint, I think I did something like 28 cities in six weeks. I visited about 20 clubs with about 25 players in Europe. So just that alone was an education.

“Coaching in World Cup was great, seven national teams I have done and three World Cups.”

His comments also offered an insight into the demanding nature of his responsibilities during his relatively short spell with Ghana.

De Sa revealed that his work involved extensive travelling across Europe to assess players and visit their clubs. Within six weeks, he estimated that he had travelled to 28 cities and visited approximately 20 clubs, meeting around 25 players.

The experience, he explained, provided valuable lessons beyond the technical and tactical aspects of coaching, particularly through the opportunity to work directly with players at different clubs.

Despite his departure from the Ghana technical team in July, De Sa’s reflections suggest that his brief involvement with the Black Stars will remain an important part of his coaching career.

Having worked with seven national teams and appeared at three World Cups, the South African believes his experiences at the highest level of international football have been an especially rewarding journey.