Ghana reportedly sacks Israeli soccer coach Avram Grant

Ghana’s Football Association has chosen to end its contract with Israeli coach Avram Grant, website Ghana Soccernet reported Saturday.

The report said officials at the African nation’s national soccer team were unhappy with Grant’s performance as coach, after the team lost 2-0 in a November 13 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Egypt.

The defeat, coupled with Grant’s reported refusal to return to Ghana with the team in recent days, led the football association to a decision to fire the Israeli, according to the website.

Grant is a veteran soccer coach, having trained many major Israeli teams in a career that started in 1972, when he was just 18 years old.

Grant coached the Israeli national team for four consecutive years until he announced he was moving to England in October 2005.

After a year as technical director at Portsmouth, he replaced Jose Mourinho as manager of Chelsea in July 2007. Despite finishing in second place in the Premier League and advancing to the finals of the UEFA Champions League and the League Cup, Grant was fired from Chelsea after one year.

After serving in several positions in Portsmouth, West Ham United and Partisan Belgrade, Grant was appointed at the end of 2014 as the new manager of the Ghana national soccer team.

Grant led Ghana to the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015, but Ivory Coast prevailed in a penalty shootout to win that title.