Black Stars players and officials were yesterday relieved when striker Abdul Majeed Waris joined his teammates at training for the first time since limping out of Ghana’s international friendly with South Korea in Miami.
The youngster is showing progress as he recuperates from a thigh injury he sustained in last Monday’s friendly, and his participation fully in yesterday’s training session raised hopes that the Valenciennes player would recover to compete in the World Cup.
It was initially feared that the 22-year-old forward, who had developed an effective striking partnership with skipper Asamoah Gyan, might miss the tournament after the team’s physician, Dr Adam Baba, had disclosed that he had a tear in his quadriceps and could spend a longer time in the treatment room.
However, it was not clear if Waris would be fit enough to be considered for selection in Ghana’s Group G opener with the United States at Estadio das Dunas in Natal on Monday.
Dr Baba and his medical team, which includes Endo Tomonori, a physiotherapist from Manchester City, and renowned Serbian traditional healer Mariana Kovacevic, who uses the horse placenta treatment to fast track healing of injured players, are monitoring the progress of Waris’ injury.
Yesterday’s open training at Estadio Rei Pele in Maceió, saw Michael Essien and Kevin-Prince Boateng, who had previously missed the previous day’s practice, participating fully. The exercise also attracted thousands of local fans who were reportedly handed free tickets to enable them to watch the Ghanaians.
Meanwhile, Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew says the Stars will not underrate any of their group opponents as they prepare to face USA on Monday.
Ghana beat USA 2-1 in each of their last two clashes at the 2006 World Cup and the 2010 tournament, but Ayew says the Stars will not take their opponents for granted and underestimate their threat. He says they will remain focused and work hard to achieve qualification.
“Nobody should think that Ghana will have it easy and just qualify. If we make it from this group that alone should be celebrated as an exploit,” Ayew told a press conference at the team’s Radisson hotel in Maceio yesterday.
“If we are eliminated people will say maybe it was because there was Germany and Portugal.”
