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New Jersey Notebook: Ghana’s coach Quiroz matches World Cup record
Carlos Queiroz, 73, attends a press conference as he assumes the role of head coach of Ghana’s national soccer team, Black Stars, in Accra, Ghana, April 23, 2026.
What you need to know:
- When the cab rides end, in addition to the app asking you to rate the driver, here in America, you are asked to tip the driver.
- Unlike what is normally expected at major world sporting events, here at MetLife there are no complementary provisions.
In New Jersey
Ghana’s Portuguese tactician Carlos Queiroz, whose Black Stars join the fray today, is coaching at his fifth consecutive World Cup. The experienced coach first handled Portugal in 2010 in South Africa before coaching Iran in three consecutive tournaments in Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.
Queiroz will be looking to guide Ghana past their quarter-final achievement of 2010. He becomes only the second coach in history to appear at five consecutive World Cups after Serbian Bora Milutinovic, who led Mexico in 1986, Costa Rica in 1990, USA in 1994, Nigeria in 1998 and China in 2002. Milutinovic never went beyond the quarter-finals after his inaugural appearance with Mexico.
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As you pay for the cab ride, please add a tip
Back to taxi services. In all dial-a-cab services, payment is strictly by card. You dial for one and are charged before the driver accepts and comes to collect you. One of the drivers explained that cash payment was not allowed because of tax requirements.
Interestingly, when the cab rides end, in addition to the app asking you to rate the driver, as is also the case in East Africa, here in America, you are asked to tip the driver – from a low of just $10 (Sh1,295) to a high of $30 (Sh3,884). Yours truly wonders how a person can be tipped over a quarter of the price of the product. Only in America.,
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A menu from the eatery at the MetLife Stadium media centre.
Journalists face high cost of food and water
The MetLife Stadium media centre is an impressive, tented edifice that can hold about 500 journalists. It becomes a beehive of activity on match days. One problem for the hardworking journalists is that, unlike what is normally expected at major world sporting events, here at MetLife there are no complementary provisions.
If you want food, you have to buy. If you want a drink, including water, you have to buy. Water is selling for $3 (Sh388). New York is currently boiling with temperatures hovering around the upper 20s degrees Celsius. A simple sandwich will cost you $9 (Sh1,165) and a croissant $5.75 (Sh744). You could try the “hot entrée”, prepared as a protein or vegetarian dish that costs just $33 (Sh4,272).
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