The Black Stars of Ghana will open camp today, Monday, September 19, 2022, in France ahead of the upcoming International friendly matches against Brazil and Nicaragua.
A statement issued by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) noted that the home-based backroom staff and other officials departed Accra on Saturday and arrived in Paris on Sunday to team up with the rest of the staff and players.
The team will hold its first training at 17:00 Hrs GMT on Monday as preparations get underway for the match against the five-time World Champions in Le Harve on Friday.
Both countries will use the match to access their strength as they build up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 finals in November/December. Brazil is paired with Switzerland, Serbia and Cameroon in Group G while Ghana faces Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in Group H.
The match is scheduled for Friday, September 23, 2022, at Stade Oceane – Le Havre at 8 pm.
Otto Addo hands debut call ups to five players
Earlier this month, Black Stars coach, Otto Addo, handed debut call-ups to five new players in his 29-man squad to face Brazil and Nicaragua in pre-world cup friendly games in France and Spain respectively.
Tariq Lamptey (Brighton), Inaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Stephan Ambrosius (Karlsruher) and Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer, have all received invitations after recently switching nationalities to represent Ghana.
Mohammed Salisu (Southampton), who has repeatedly turned down call-ups, has also been named in the squad.
Hearts of Oak winger, Afriyie Barnieh, is the only Ghana-based player named in the squad, a reward for his fine performances for the Black Galaxies in recent months.
In-form Ajax superstar, Mohammed Kudus is expected to replicate his form in the upcoming matches with calls that the coach should consider playing him as a false 9, a role he’s playing very well at the club level.
The technical advisor of the Black Stars, Chris Hughton, is confident players who have recently committed to Ghana are going to play beyond the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The six players, five of whom were foreign-born, made the decision through the Ghana Football Association to play for the Black Stars.
However, following the announcement of the players, there were mixed reactions from Ghanaians as many have the assertion players turn to make themselves available for selection just because of the World Cup.
Dismissing the notion that the newly-added Black Stars players are opportunists, Chris Hughton said: “The nation wants us to have the best squad. They want us to have the best opportunity to do well in the world cup and to do well in the world cup, we need the best squad”.
The two games against Brazil and Nicaragua represent Otto Addo’s penultimate chance to assess his squad before naming the 26-man squad for the World Cup in November.
Brazil names strong squad to face Ghana in pre-World Cup friendly
Meanwhile, Head coach of Brazil’s national team, Tite, also named a 26-man squad for the upcoming international break.
After playing the Black Stars in Le Havre on September 23, the South Americans will also go head-to-head with Tunisia four days later as part of their preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be staged in Qatar.
The 26-man squad announced by Brazil has Manchester United’s new boy, Antony, and Barcelona’s Raphinha.
However, to the surprise of many football fans, Arsenal trio of Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes all miss out despite a good start to the season.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will run from 20th November to 18th December in Qatar.
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