Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant and Dutch international Patrick Kluivert feature on a shortlist of five coaches to be interviewed for the vacant Ghana post, the country's football association said on Wednesday. The others to be assessed by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) are Michel Pont, assistant coach for Switzerland at this year's World Cup, former Italy midfielder Marco Tardelli and Spanish coach Juan Ignacio Martínez. Pont, Kluivert and Tardelli will be interviewed in Accra on Oct. 17, and Grant and Martinez the following day, the GFA said on their website (www.ghanafa.org). Two managers have also been placed on standby in case of a withdrawal, former Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster and ex-Argentina international Ricardo Gareca. Israeli Grant, who last week was appointed technical director at Thailand club BEC-Tero Sasana, was head coach of Chelsea in the 2007/08 season when he took them to the runner-up position in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League. He would later go on to manage Portsmouth and West Ham United, and was manager of Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, who he led to the domestic league title before resigning in May 2012. Former striker Kluivert was assistant coach to Louis van Gaal with the Netherlands national team at the World Cup in Brazil but is no longer involved with the team, while Tardelli was Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant with Ireland until leaving the post in September last year. Pont served as an assistant coach with Switzerland for 13 years, including working under Ottmar Hitzfeld, but departed after this year's World Cup. Martínez was most recently with Real Valladolid in Spain's La Liga, having risen to prominence after coaching Levante. Ghana are seeking a replacement for Kwesi Appiah, who was axed after the team failed to progress from the first round at this year's World Cup, with the GFA confirming they were only looking at foreign coaches for the Black Stars post. The side is currently being led by caretaker coach Maxwell Konadu, who will be in charge for their 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers home and away against Guinea over the next week. (For more sports news and updates, follow AhramOnline Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/112614.aspx
