England coach Roy Hogdson is a huge admirer of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) because of the way it dealt with clubs of Ghanaian players abroad, John Paintsil has revealed.
The South Africa-based defender says the praises Hodgson heaped on the GFA when he was the coach of Fulham made the right-back very proud to be a Ghanaian.
Paintsil played under Hodgson at Fulham which led to frequent interactions with the English side over the release of the defender for matches for the Black Stars.
The right-back reveals that the professionalism attached to the way the GFA dealt with Fulham led to huge praises for the Ghanaian federation from the current England boss.
"When I was playing for Fulham, I always felt proud with the comments of my manager about the Ghana FA," Paintsil said.
"Roy Hodgson used to laud the GFA for their professionalism and that always made me happy.
“He always said that the GFA would send invitation to me two weeks before I leave England and as soon as the national assignment is over, they make sure I join Fulham and that was highly professional.”
The Ghana FA has been under intense criticism and pressure after the abysmal performance of the Black Stars at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil