The 65-year-old manager noted it wasn’t easy to get his team to the Cup of Nations finals because they are all in exile but he is hoping his attempts to drive his players towards how they can improve their lives through the game will help.

He told World Soccer magazine: “It has been a really difficult situation because of the war, but the real problem has been trying to keep the players motivated when they haven’t been paid their allowances and bonuses and those kinds of things.

“If players don’t get that, they have no motivation to play. And in the national team, that has been one of the major obstacles.

“But I’ve tried to change their mentality, not to think about money now, but to look at the way forward, what they can also get from qualifying for the Cup of Nations.

“That is something that I’ve put in their heads, so their focus was not on the disadvantages of what is going on in their country, but to focus on what can happen to their lives. That’s been the issue we’ve been trying to tackle over a long time.”

The former Ghana international admitted it isn’t easy to keep track of potential players because there is no league in Sudan.

He said: “It has always been in Sudan that Al Hilal and Al Merrikh are the two clubs from which most of the players are picked, and I do too.

“Unfortunately, Merrikh last season went out early in the Champions League, and this season have now also missed out on the group phase.

“Hilal are the only club left in African club competition, so I monitor all of their games.

“But they also have a lot of professional players who are not Sudanese.

“It is not easy keeping an eye on all the potential players.”