Stars to finish in grand style

The Black Stars of Ghana are expected to climax their 2016 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in grand style when they host the Amavubi of Rwanda at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday.

Ghana is home and dry in the qualification series to the continent’s most prestigious competition, making Sunday’s game a mere formality. But the arrival in Accra of Ghana’s top players suggests the team wants to end the qualifiers with aplomb on home grounds and also, perhaps, a recognition that the home-based Rwandan team would not be pushovers.

Tomorrow’s game has been shrouded in controversy over the composition of the team, following growing tension between the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports over the suitability of home-based players representing the Stars.

And it took the benevolence of the deputy skipper, Andre Dede Ayew, to fund the air tickets of some of his teammates to travel down for this game following indications by the minister, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, that the ministry’s budget was overstretched and therefore could not fund the air fare of the foreign legion and their winning bonus.

The new arrangement will see the players given a take-it-or-leave-it winning bonus of $2,500 to be paid by the ministry.

The mood in the Stars camp suggests the players remained focused on tomorrow’s assignment to close the chapter on the AFCON qualifiers before they change gear and tackle the all-important 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Even though Andre Ayew is injured, the West Ham United record signing is expected to join his teammates in camp to cheer them up, just as the team’s captain Asamoah Gyan who is expected to join the team from Dubai after signing a year-long loan deal with Al Ahli. Nonetheless, Coach Grant will have a good mix of foreign-based players, including Mubarak Wakaso, John Boye, Daniel Amartey, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Afriyie Acquah and Frank Acheampong, and some home-based stars invited for the game.