Two months after their ignominious exit from the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Ghana’s Black Stars have regrouped for the first time as they seek to win back the love of Ghanaians with a convincing win against Uganda in their opening 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Kumasi on Saturday.
With all 24 players expected in the team’s Kumasi camp by the close of day, Coach Kwasi Appiah’s preparation for Saturday’s game will go into full gear by tomorrow after the team began training at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi yesterday.
Coach Appiah will be glad to have the full complement of his team available today, with the arrival of players such as Olympique Marseille midfielder Andre Ayew and striker Abdul Majeed Waris, whose arrival delayed due to their involvement in European football’s transfer deadline day.
Players in cam include goalkeepers, Fatau Dauda, Razak Brimah and Stephen Adams; defenders Awal Mohammed, Yaw Frimpong, Jeffrey Schlupp, Jonathan Mensah, Baba Rahman and John Boye.
Others are midfielders Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Rabiu Mohammed, Yusif Chibsah, Kwadwo Asamoah, Mubarak Wakaso, Atsu Christian, Solomon Asante, Edwin Gyimah, Afriyie Acquah, and strikers Asamoah Gyan, Jordan Ayew and David Accam.
With the Stars enjoying a clean bill of health, coach Appiah expects his charges to heal the wounds of Ghanaian football fans who are heartbroken by the team’s disappointing World Cup campaign, with a victory over the Cranes of Uganda.
The Stars’ build-up has been overshadowed by off-field matters on the back of their first round World Cup exit. Nonetheless, the coach expects the team to pull together to win over their critics.
"Automatically, there's pressure not because of the up-coming match but due to the distractions created by our disappointing World Cup campaign," Appiah told www.ghanafa.org.
"Ideally, we would have expected to be enjoying all the plaudits but that is not the case now. We hope to draw important lessons from that experience and shine again.
"I trust our fans to stick by us as we begin another important campaign. Their support is key so we can all have another opportunity to dream again."
