Eric Bekoe hasn’t played in national colours for one whole year and Stephen Appiah, due to his clubless issues, has also not been around since last featuring for Ghana against Benin in Kumasi.

Samuel Inkoom has been named in the side but with the Black Satellites on duty in Switzerland ahead of the World Youth Championships in Egypt, it is unlikely he will make the journey to England too.

Appiah is also back after he opted out of Ghana’s last 2 games because he said he had ‘family issues.’ I’ve stated earleir that I think that decision was wrong, to be honest.

Goalkeepers: Richard Kingston (Wigan Athletic, England), George Owu (Al Masry, Egypt)

Strikers: Asamoah Gyan (Rennes, France), Mathew Amoah (NAC Breda, Holland), Prince Tagoe (Hoffeinham, Germany) and Eric Bekoe (Egypt)

Japan says it has reached an agreement with its Ghana counterparts to field its best team including Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari in the game.

The Blue Samurai will travel to Enschede, Holland on September 5 to face the Oranje and then four days later will meet Ghana in Utrecht.

“Both teams have promised to play members who have taken part in (World Cup) qualifying,” Japan coach Takeshi Okada said.

“The road trip will help us obtain first-hand knowledge of teams that have the potential to reach the last four.”

Currently, the Asians are 40th in the rankings and looking at the kind of players they possess, that game should be interesting.

On the premise that both teams would really play first-team guys, let’s see what the Japs have.

They do not have what you would call world class threats but they do have some decent names in there: Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble, FRANCE), Shunsuke Nakamura (Espanyol, SPAIN), Makoto Dasebe (Wolfsburg, GERMANY) and Junichi Inamoto (Rennes)

However, the real danger men who put the ball in the net regularly on the national level include Naohiro Takahara and Nakamura (both have 23 goals and are among the country’s all-time high scorers).

But these two guys are usually called for really really important matches and I like to think that they would consider Ghana an important prospect.

The rest of the lads Japan have used in recent friendlies are all home-based. Hey, don’t be fooled as it is their speed that may be a source of worry.

The team has won 6 out 0f its last 10 games ( some of the opponents were Yemen, Bahrain – twice, Finland, Qatar, Chile, Belgium and Australia).

Not bad at all.

Hans Adu-Sarpei has had to pull out with a last minute injury, and due to the timing, LeRoy has opted not to call anyone up to replace him. However, Laryea Kingston is cleared to play, though his club, Hearts, is furious and plans to complain to the Ghana FA. Good luck with that.

This game will be relatively straight forward on Ghana’s side of things, but the goal scoring problem that LeRoy faced during the ACN still exists. Unlike many other teams, Ghana don’t have anything near a world class striker, or barring that, even a striker who plays in a top club. And to make matters worse, Asamoah Gyan is out injured, which leaves Junior Agogo and the uncapped Eric Bekoe.

Once again, Ghana will have to rely on their midfield to get anything out of the match.

Ghana team: Kingson, Dauda – Paintsil, Mensah, Manu, Afful, Addo – Annan, Essien, Draman, Muntari, Ayew, Kingston, Buaben – Bekoe, Agogo, Owusu-Abeyie

Expected lineup:

Kingson
Paintsil – Addo – Mensah – Manu
Kingston – Essien – Annan – Muntari
Agogo – Owusu-Abeyie

Richard Manu looks to be the most likely candidate to replace Sarpei, while Anthony Annan, Ghana’s newest revelation, may have his chance to impress again at the expense of Haminu Draman. If Kingston is feeling up to it, he should get the nod over Andre Ayew. If not, either Ayew can take his place or Sulley Muntari can shift over to the right, and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie can drop back. But that would mean Eric Bekoe starting. Options, options, options…

Also, check out the Mexico World Cup Blog for information about the Mexican NT. Alan will have all the relevant updates there.

How to watch the game:

Unsurprisingly, it’s hard to find streams for Mexico-Ghana, given the sheer number of friendlies being played today, many of them among higher profile teams. But I did manage to find one link. You’ll need to have flash installed, and hopefully it will work. *crosses fingers*. Remember, the game is at 4 PM Eastern Time (20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET).

Three players have been handed their debut call ups – Prince Buaben, Richard Manu, and Eric Bekoe. Buaben is a midfielder who plies his trade with Dundee United in Scotland (who oh so barely lost the league cup against Rangers) while Manu and Beko, a defender and a striker respectively, play for Asante Kotoko in Ghana’s domestic league. Beko is currently the league’s top goalscorer.

Asamoah Gyan is still out injured from the thigh injury he picked up during the African Cup of Nations. Included in the squad is Laryea Kingston, who just returned to fitness from a foot injury he also picked up in the ACN. Whether he’ll be prepared to play next week will depend on his progress this weekend.

Full list of players after the jump.

Goalkeepers: Richard Kingson (Birmingham City, England) and Fatau Dauda (AshantiGold, Ghana)

Defenders: John Paintsil (West Ham, England), John Mensah (Rennes, France), Hans Adu Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Richard Manu and Harrison Afful (Asante Kotoko, Ghana), Eric Addo (PSV Eindhoven, Holland)

Midfielders: Anthony Annan (Stabaek, Norway), Michael Essien (Chelsea, England), Haminu Draman (Locomotiv Moscow, Russia), Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth, England), Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille, France) Laryea Kingston (Hearts, Scotland), Prince Buaben (Dundee Utd, Scotland)

Strikers: Eric Bekoe (Asante Kotoko, Ghana), Junior Agogo (Nottingham Forest, England), Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (Celta Vigo, Spain)