Ghana Will Begin African Nations Cup Training On December 27

The Black Stars will begin training for next year's Africa Cup of Nations on December 27, spokesman for the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has disclosed.

Ghana will begin residential training for the bi-annual tournament to be hosted by Angola in the South African town of Nelspruit.

Officials have already visited the facilities in Nelspurit and are pleased with what they have seen.

"We have started advanced planning for the Nations Cup and we have already picked December 27 to start camping," GFA spokesman Randy Abbey told ghanasoccernet.

"We want to ensure the squad is prepared adequately for the challenge ahead."

Players from the main European leagues of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland are expected to join camp from the start.

But those players featuring in England like Michael Essien, John Pantsil, John Mensah and Richard Kingson will only join the squad from January 3 as stipulated by FIFA regulations.

The English league does not have a winter break so they must release their players seven days before the start of the tournament.

Rajevac will then face the difficult task of dropping seven players from the 30-man squad he is likely to call for camping in South Africa.

Samm Audu, Goal.com