UNITED STATES -- In the immediate aftermath of Ghana's FIFA World Cup elimination by Colombia on Friday, the Ghana Football Association have a decision to make about the future of the national side.
It was reported in the local media that head coach Carlos Queiroz only signed a short-term deal with the GFA when he joined to oversee the national team's campaign in North America. But should they extend that?
Four months ago, the national side were in disarray. Otto Addo had not done enough during his time at the helm to convince the federation that he was the right man to oversee a long-term project, with the one-sided defeats by Austria and Germany -- 5-1 and 2-1 -- in March ultimately prompting the national side to end his stay.
Queiroz did wonders in a short time
They turned to former Manchester United mentor Queiroz, who may have had a patchy record with the likes of Egypt, Iran, Colombia and Portugal, but who would nonetheless bring organisation and experience to the post.
Despite the 73-year-old's extensive record in international football, it was a gamble. Queiroz had never worked in West Africa, had demonstrated little 'touch' for African football, let alone the specifics of the regional game, and had an established defensive playing style that didn't appear a natural fit for neither Ghana's footballing DNA nor the players available to him.
There's no doubting that he silenced the critics during their Group L campaign. Ghana escaped their group, defeating Panama, holding England, and becoming one of only four teams not to have conceded in their opening two games.
Defensively, they were outstanding at the tournament's start; organised, aggressive, committed, united. Pride had returned to the national side.
There was nothing of the panic, confusion or lethargy that have characterised recent years of Ghanaian football, and indeed, the national side were unfortunate not to have defeated England -- one of the tournament favourites -- in Boston.
Had refereeing decisions gone their way -- notably Ezri Konsa's baffling penalty-box lunge on Prince Adu -- and the Black Stars would have come away from Foxborough with one of the most famous victories in the country's history.
The defeat by Croatia in Philadelphia didn't matter, Ghana were through, and could be forgiven for dropping their intensity in order to preserve themselves for the challenges to come.
All in all, Queiroz surpassed expectations through the group-stage campaign; Ghana were through, they looked organised and credible, and most importantly, he'd restored a sense of purpose and direction to Ghana.
"Sometimes you need five months, six months for people to understand your ways," Jordan Ayew told ESPN.
"He came in and after a month or two we'd started implementing what he wanted. He asked us what to do, and it worked well up to some point."
Queiroz and the team deserve credit for adapting to each other so quickly, and the result was a first knockout game in 16 years.
However, is the group stage campaign alone enough for Queiroz to be commended for a longer-term brief with the national side?
Do Ghana deserve a more attacking coach?
Based on the evidence of the Colombia defeat -- and one doesn't want to be reactionary about this -- might Ghana be selling themselves short if they were to stick with Queiroz beyond the World Cup?
To say the nature of their exit was limp would be an understatement, with Ghana failing to muster a single shot on target during the course of the contest.
They can be forgiven for falling behind -- with Colombia capitalising on the injury to rightback Marvin Senaya and Alidu Seidu coming into the game cold to score one minute after the substitute -- but after that point, the Black Stars still had the best part of 90 minutes to equalise.
They didn't come close. There was a lack of intensity, a lack of urgency, a lack of precision in the final third and, in truth, Colombia saw out the game comfortably.
This isn't entirely on Queiroz; he can't be blamed for Caleb Yirenkyi's poor control and lack of accuracy, while Iñaki Williams was quiet throughout the tournament.
However, tactically, Queiroz's inherent conservatism was evident. He introduced Elisha Owusu, another defensive-minded midfielder, for Kwasi Sibo on the hour mark, when Ghana clearly needed someone more ambitious, more forward-minded in midfield.
He waited until the 79th minute before removing Yirenkyi, who would have been the kind of dynamic addition to introduce to the game during the latter stages, while Adu -- so dangerous against England -- was also only trusted with 10 minutes of action at the end of the game.
This was the point when veteran Ayew was replaced, although it had been apparent, for the second-half -- if not the entire tournament -- that the 34-year-old was in no state to burden the goalscoring threat for the national side.
Ayew ended the World Cup without having registered a single shot -- not a shot on target, but a any shot, full stop -- which is a damning stat for the Black Stars, their captain, and their coach.
Brandon Thomas-Asante wasn't trusted at all for the second-half against Colombia, while the exciting Christopher Bonsu Baah was also left on the sidelines.
Ultimately, Queiroz effectively developed a schema that allowed Ghana to neutralise opponents -- which worked until it didn't -- but when they needed to adapt their approach, take the game to their foe, and impose themselves, they were completely unable to.
He had a decent chance against Croatia, but, being honest, the World Cup completely passed him by.
For the next cycle, and the Africa Cup of Nations to come in less than a year, Ghana will be able to call upon two of the continent's most exciting attackers in Antoine Semeyo and Mohammed Kudus, injured for the World Cup.
Has Queiroz really demonstrated - recently or ever - that he can design a system which can ensure Ghana are defensively rugged, while allowing their brighter talents to express themselves?
The instincts, the reflexes we saw during that second half against Colombia were a reminder that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and while Queiroz deserves credit for guiding Ghana through the World Cup, can he truly take the Black Stars back to the pinnacle of the African game?