Ghana Squad Announced

January 4th, 2008 | By: Inara | 2 Comments »

Ack! I’m gone for the holidays, and so much has happened while I was gone. I had planned to write about the untimely injury to Stephen Appiah, the captain of the Black Stars, and his new role in the squad, but I see that Daryl got to it before I did.

So instead I will post the final squad that was selected for the African Cup of Nations. Two weeks ago, I posted the preliminary squad of 40 men, which Claude LeRoy has trimmed down to a more reasonable size of 27.

See the full list after the jump.

Goalkeepers:
Richard Kingson (Birmingham City, England)
Sammy Adjei (Ashdod, Israel)
Fatau Dauda (Ashantigold, Ghana)

Defenders:
John Paintsil (West Ham, England)
Dan Opare (Ashantigold, Ghana)
Nana Kwasi Asare (FC Mechelon, Belgium)
John Mensah (Rennes, France)
Alhassan Illiasu (FC Saturn, Russia)
Francis Dickoh (FC Utretcht, Holland)
Hans Adu Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)
Harrison Afful (Asante Kotoko, Ghana)

Midfielders:
Anthony Annan (I.K. Start, Norway)
Eric Addo (PSV Eindhoven, Holland)
Michael Essien (Chelsea, England)
Bernard Kumodzi (Panionios FC, Greece)
Laryea Kingston (Hearts, Scotland)
Haminu Draman (Locomotiv Moscow, Russia)
Moussa Narry (Etoile du Sahel, Tunisia)
Stephen Appiah (Fenerbahce, Turkey)
Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth, England)
Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille, France)
Ahmed Barruso (AS Roma, Italy)

Strikers:
Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda, Holland)
Asamoah Gyan (Udinese, Italy)
Baffuor Gyan (FC Saturn, Russia)
Junior Agogo (Nottingham Forest, England)
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (Celta Vigo, Spain)
Kwadwo Asamoah (Liberty Professionals, Ghana)

Tags: African Cup of Nations 2008, Player News and Rumors, Team News and Rumors

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Comments

By Daryl | January 5th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

Sorry about beating you to the Appiah story Inara! It is a fascinating choice though. My big question is: does he really need to be named to the squad to fill the special advisor role?

When the final 23 is named wouldn’t it be better to let a non-injured player take the roster spot, and just keep Appiah around anyway? Maybe name him as an assistant coach or something to give him permission to be on the touchline?

By Inara | January 5th, 2008 at 7:44 pm

Don’t worry, Daryl, I don’t mind. I’m the slow one here.

I’m not quite sure what to make of the Appiah situation either. If it were a more minor injury, I’d suspect that LeRoy was playing mind games by making us all wonder, but if he’s expected to be out 2 months, he should be recuperating.

But it’s not the first time I’ve seen this. Last year, Domenech insisted on calling up Thuram (and also encouraging Henry to stay) despite the fact they were injured. I think this is for two reasons. First of all, it allows them to still interact and encourage the other players. A veteran like Appiah has a lot of knowledge to impart. It’s also a matter of wanting a player to get evaluated and treated by the national team doctors, who might see things differently. Club doctors sometimes exaggerate when international duty beckons.

It might be that LeRoy feels that it’s better to have 22 fit players + Appiah than 22 players + a player who wouldn’t ordinarily have made the squad.

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