Fringe Players in the Black Stars 26-man provisional World Cup squad will be out to make an impression against the Netherlands as Kwasi Appiah will cut three names from his squad after the game tomorrow at the De Kuip Arena, Rotterdam.
Appiah’s men produced an attacking masterclass against an average local select side last Friday, the team will be judged based on how well they fare against losing finalists in 2010, The Oranje (as Netherlands are known) in the first of two high-profile friendlies ahead of the World Cup.
The game affords Appiah an opportunity to test his charges against one of the genuine favourites for this year’s World Cup trophy, who are ranked 15th in the world according to FIFA’s rankings ahead of Ghana who lie 38th.
The Stars' defence will come up against two of the most dangerous attackers in European football, Manchester United’s Robin van Persie and Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben.
The sub-plots involving Robben and 21-year-old Leicester City full-back Jeffery Schlupp will be interesting to watch and could secure Schlupp a starting role at the mundial depending on how he fares against the tricky winger.
In the midfield battles, Rabiu Mohammed, Agyeman Badu and Afriyie Acquah, will be presented with the task of shackling Galatasaray playmaker, Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong and Georginio Wijnaldum, who interestingly was born to a Ghanaian father.
Appiah will also be keen to put to bed his personal hoodoo of never defeating a non-African side, a run which includes draws to China (1-1), Turkey (2-2) and losses to Japan (3-1) and Montenegro (1-0).
This unpleasant record must be ended if the Stars are to have an opportunity of qualifying out of Group G which includes USA, Portugal and Germany.
Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan, will also be keen to better his already impressive goals tally of 39 goals from 77 international games against a solid Netherlands backline which includes, the experienced Ron Vlaar and Newwcastle goal-tender, Tim Krul.
A win against Louis van Gaal’s set-up, weakened by the absence of the influential Rafael van der Vaart, who was ruled out of the mundial with a calf strain, will be a confidence booster to Ghana.
However, Appiah will be interested in avoiding injuries to his key-men even as he assesses the strengths and weaknesses of his talented squad.
