Coach Kwasi Appiah insists Fatau Dauda is not guaranteed the No.1 spot during the World Cup but rather the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper will have to fight for his position in the Black Stars and prove he remains the preferred choice ahead of Adam Larsen Kwarasey and Stephen Adams.
Despite having a torrid spell with the South African side where he has been consigned to the reserves bench and made no more than five appearances, the Stars coach has defended his selection for the tournament ahead of experienced Richard Kingson, who has revived his career in Turkey.
Coach Appiah told the Graphic Sports in an exclusive interview last Wednesday that despite being overlooked by Pirates, he still had faith in Fatau’s abilities to rise to the occasion in the national team.
“For the last two years Fatau has been our No. 1. No one can convince me he’s lost form to be out of the team.
“He has to prove to me he is still No. 1,” said Appiah, who reiterated that all three goalies must battle for the No. 1 position in the team.
“Since day one, I have said that any player who had a team could make it to the national team depending on his form. If you’re not playing in your club, it means there could be a problem,” Appiah noted.
Even though he admitted Kingson, one of Ghana’s outstanding players in the last two World Cups, was very active in Turkish second-tier club, Kwarasey was the best goalie in the Norwegian league and could not be overlooked just as young Adams, who excelled at this year’s African Nations Championship in South Africa.
“Traditionally we have reserved the third spot for a local goalkeeper [Hearts of Oak’s Philemon McCarthy in 2006 and Heart of Lions’ Stephen Ahorlu in 2010]. It’s always important to give that opportunity to a young goalkeeper who has a future with the national team.
“Olele [Kingson] is a very good goalkeeper and has a wealth of experience, but I had to make a choice based on the future of the team and I chose Adams,” explained Coach Appiah on why he overlooked veteran Kingson for the Aduana Stars shot stopper.
Meanwhile, the coach has hinted that he would take only the final 23 players to Brazil and not carry along the three players dropped from the provisional squad.
He told this paper that a similar experiment occured at Germany 2006, where players who were given the chop created a lot of problems for the team’s handlers, hence his resolve to carry along only his final team to avoid any problem.
“They tried it in Germany and it created a lot of problems. At the World Cup, you need full concentration and it’s not a good idea for those who will not take part in the tournament to follow the team,” Appiah concluded strongly.
