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Goal.com’s Joshua Ansah has identified five Black Stars players who are conspicuously missing in the roster presented against China on Wednesday and finds out what went wrong

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By Joshua Ansah

Black Stars coach Kwesi Appiah named his 18-man squad for the game with China and Goal.com Ghana takes a look at the notable absentees from the list.

5. DANIEL ADJEI - Liberty Professionals, Ghana

PLAYER FACTS Date of Birth November 10 1989 Position Goalkeeper  Nat team caps (clean sheets): 4(2)

The young goalkeeper is one of many players promoted from the Black Satellites squad which won the World Youth Championship in 2009. Adjei has been to every major tournament the Black Stars have been to since then, but has only made four appearances for the national side. The first of which came in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the last in a friendly against South Africa immediately after the 2010 World Cup. He is yet to man the posts in a major tournament with all his appearances coming in friendlies. The youngster seems to have moved down the pecking order to accommodate Berekum Chelsea shot-stopper Ernest Sowah and his failure to make it into the two spots reserved for last line of defense in this squad seems to put substance to that argument.

4. JORDAN AYEW - Olympique Marseille, France

PLAYER FACTS Date of Birth September 11 1991 Position Attacker Nat team caps (goals):  10(2)

Jordan Ayew has been making his way slowly into the ranks of the national team in the absence of striker Asamoah Gyan and scored twice in the World Cup qualifier against Lesotho. The youngster, however, failed to make the cut this time around with Juventus’ new signing Richmond Boakye Yiadom getting the nod. His exclusion comes at a time where he is struggling for play time at club level and a spot in the national team may prove a tall order considering the form of strikers such as Abdul Majeed Warris and Emmanuel Clottey as well as the return of Asamoah Gyan.

3. SAMUEL INKOOM - Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

PLAYER FACTS Date of Birth June 1 1989 Position Defender  Nat team caps (goals):  37(1)

Samuel Inkoom also rose to prominence in the 2009 World Youth Championships in Egypt as he and left back David Addy proved the driving force behind the team’s success providing three assists each. Inkoom then made the transition to the national team where he has managed to hold his own so far against veteran John Paintsil. Inkoom’s main criticism though is his decision making skills and the youngster’s position may be under threat as Daniel Opare and new boy Razak Nuhu (who is naturally left footed) will be looking to take over the right back slot.

2. JOHN PAINTSIL – Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel

PLAYER FACTS Date of Birth June 15 1981 Position Defender Nat team caps (goals): 80(0)

 

The defender, who is regarded as one of the nation’s loyal servants, seems to be heading out of the national side after yet another squad was released without his name. The veteran full back has not been handed a national team call-up since the end of the African Cup of Nations earlier this year. With 80 caps to his name, the guardsman is one of the most experienced players available to the Black Stars, but lack of play time at club level have cost him a place in the squad. Paintsil has not played for his club Leicester City since October 2011 and his inactivity caused them to release him in May this year. He just signed a one-year deal with Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv.

1. ANDRE AYEW – Olympique Marseille, France

PLAYER FACTS Date of Birth December 17 1989 Position Midfielder Nat team caps (goals):  41(4)

Dede Ayew as he is commonly referred to made his debut for Ghana as a 17-year-old against Senegal in 2007. He was called up by Claude Le Roy who sought to prevent the upcoming Ghanaian star from joining the French national side. Andre, however, failed to make any impact on the squad and most saw him as not yet ready for the Black Stars. His stellar performance in the 2009 World Youth championship as he captained his side to glory, however, helped cure many inhibitions about him and he was gladly welcomed back for the African Cup of Nations in 2010. He has been a mainstay in the squad since then even serving as captain after various substitutions in one of the matches at Afcon 2012. Ayew had been out after surgery on a dislocated shoulder earlier this year, but has not had any call-ups since his return. He will be hoping the call-ups come sooner rather than later.

 

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