“We are happy that he doing well, we have a lot of players playing in his position and we are satisfied with them,” CK Akonnor said

“What he said; when he is ready he will play for Ghana. We don’t have much deployment in that position, so we will look at him. When he is ready, he will let us know.” he concluded.

Mohammed Salisu who is still struggling to break into Southampton’s first team is once again not in the 30-man squad for Ghana’s friendly games against Morocco and Ivory Coast next month.

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Black Stars Head Coach C. K Akonnor has named a 29-man squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe. The team is a mixture of home-based and others who play abroad.



Coach Akonnor who has been training with home-based players in Accra for the past four weeks has settled on Nine of those players for the two crucial games.

They include Gladson Awako, Joseph Esso, Ismael Ganiyu, Razak Abalora, Eric Ofori Antwi and Kwame Opoku.

Black Satellites trio, Danlad Ibrahim, Philemon Baffuor, and Abdul Fatawu Issahaku have also been named.

In the squad are Stephen Ambrosius of Hamburger SV in Germany, Kamal Sowah of OH Leuven in Belgium, Kwasi Okyere Wriedt of Willem II in Holland, Kwame Afriyie Opoku of Colchester United, Osman Bukari of Gent and Emmanuel Gyasi of Spezia FC in Italy.

Ghana will take on South Africa on March 25 in Johannesburg before engaging Sao Tome and Principe on March 29, 2021 at the Accra Sports stadium.

The Black Stars sit at the top of Group C with 9 points and are in search of one of the tickets to the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Richard Ofori (Orlando Pirates – South Africa), Razak Abalora (Asante Kotoko – Ghana), Eric Ofori Antwi (Medeama SC – Ghana), Danlad Ibrahim (Asante Kotoko- Ghana)

Full Backs: Baba Abdul Rahman (PAOK – Greece), Gideon Mensah (Vitória de Guimarães – Portugal), Benson Annan (MLK Zilina – Slovakia), Philemon Baffuor (Dreams FC – Ghana)

Central Defenders: Nicholas Opoku (Amiens SC – France), Kasim Nuhu (1899 Hoffenheim – Germany), Ganiyu Ismael (Asante Kotoko – Ghana), Stephen Ambrosius (Hamburger SV – Germany)

Central Midfield: Kudus Mohammed (Ajax Amsterdam – Holland), Mubarak Wakaso (Jiangsu Suning F.C – China), Afriyie Acquah (Yeni Malatyaspor – Turkey), Emmanuel Lomotey (Amiens SC – France), Iddrisu Baba (RCD Mallorca – Spain), Gladson Awako (Great Olympics -Ghana), Kwame Afriyie Poku (Colchester United – England)

Left Attacking Midfield: Osman Bukari (Gent – Belgium), Joseph Esso (Dreams FC- Ghana)

Right Attacking Midfield: Kamal Sowah (OH Leuven- Belgium), Fatawu Issahaku (Steadfast FC – Ghana)

Attackers: Emmanuel Boateng (Dalian Professional- China), Emmanuel Gyasi (Spezia – Italy), Kwame Opoku (Asante Kotoko – Ghana), John Antwi (Pyramids FC – Egypt), Kwasi Okyere Wriedt (Willem II – Holland), Caleb Ekuban (Trabzonspor – Turkey)

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Ghana coach Charles “CK” Akonnor has announced a 32-man home-based squad to kick-start preparations for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations double-header against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe next month. 

The Black Stars gaffer has named the top performers in the country’s Premier and second-tier teams to begin preparations for the qualifying match in March.

Medeama stars Justice Blay and Rashid Nortey, Karela United striker Diawisie Taylor, Asante Kotoko goal poacher Kwame Poku as well as King Faisal arrow-man Kwame Preprah are some of the high-profile players named in the squad.

There are also places for Kotoko defensive left-back Ibrahim Moro and Ganiyu Ismail as well as Hearts of Oak center-back Mohammed Alhassan.

Asante Kotoko goalkeeper Razak Abalora, Aduana Stars ace Joseph Addo, Medeama shot-stopper Eric Ofori Antwi and Elmina Sharks’ Bawa Lord Martey.

The Ghanaian gaffer is leaving no stone unturned amid fears the covid-19 restrictions could prevent several Europe-based stars to make the squad for the two qualifiers.

It’s a massive chance for the home-based players to stake a claim in the team and test the quality of the domestic league.

Goalkeepers: Joseph Addo (Aduana Stars), Razak Abalora (Asante Kotoko), Bawa Lord Martey (Elmina Sharks), Eric Ofori Antwi (Medeama SC)

Central Defenders: Haruna Jamal Deen (Great Olympics), Yussif Mubarik (Asante Kotoko), Ganiyu Ismail (Asante Kotoko), Konadu Yiadom (WAFA), Mohammed Alhassan (Hearts of Oak)

Full Backs: Amoako Kwadwo (AshantiGold SC), Christopher Nettey (Asante Kotoko), Ibrahim Moro (Asante Kotoko), Dennis Korsah Akoumah (Ebusua Dwarfs)

Midfielders: Justice Blay (Medeama SC), Rashid Nortey (Medeama SC), Salifu Moro (Bechem United), Gladson Awako (Great Olympics), Michael Otou (Great Olympics), George Asamoah (Ebusua Dwarfs), Ben Acquah (Ebusua Dwarfs)

Attacking Midfielders: Yaw Annor (AshantiGold SC), Salifu Ibrahim (Techiman Eleven Wonders), Maxwell Abbey (Great Olympics), Augustine Boakye (WAFA), Michael Agbekornu (Dreams FC)

Strikers: Kwame Pepprah (King Faisal), Diawusie Taylor (Karela United FC), Kwame Opoku (Asante Kotoko), Joseph Esso (Dreams FC), Evans Etti (Accra Lions FC), Andy Kumi Francis (Unistar Academy), Welbeck Takyi (Tano Bofoakwa)

Credit: Ghanasoccernet

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Black Stars coach Charles Kwablan Akonnor has revealed his “aim and aspirations” with the team is the qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022.  

Akonnor adds it is his desire to even do better than his predecessors at the global showpiece after Ghana missed out on the competition in 2018.

The West Africans are one of only three countries from the continent to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

However, a poor outing in Brazil in 2014 left many Ghanaian disappointed.

“My aim and aspiration is to help Ghana qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which would be staged in Qatar,” the ex-Black Stars captain told Kessben FM.

“I want to qualify for the nation for the next FIFA World Cup competition but that is not all as I would like and want my team to do well and make the country proud and everyone happy,” he added.

The 46-year-old was named coach of the senior national team in January, taking over from Kwesi Appiah after a brief spell as an assistant.

He has since led the team in four games, including two AFCON qualifiers against Sudan, winning the game in Cape Coast, and losing in Omdurman.



credit: ghanasoccernet

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Ghana Black Stars defender Nicholas Opoku could miss Ghana’s second friendly game on Monday against Qatar in Turkey.

Nicholas picked up an injury in Ghana’s embarrassing defeat against Mali on Friday. The Amiens player was injured in the first half but continued playing until the 79th minute of the game before he was replaced by Joseph Aidoo.

CK Akonnor is still unsure if the defender will feature against Qatar, he revealed that the defender will undergo a last fitness test before the last training today.

“No, he has not fully recovered. Today they are gonna look at it before training and they will inform me” CK Aonnor said.

Ghana will meet Qatar for the first time ever and CK Akonnor and his team will be looking to make amends after the Mali defeat.

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Ghana Black Stars coach believes lack of organization was the main reason for their embarrassing defeat against Mali in Friday game in Turkey.

Mali registered a 3-0 win against Ghana in CK Akonnor’s first game as the Black Stars coach.

Ghanaians used social media to voice out their displeasure and question the mentality and quality of the coach and the entire squad ahead of their competitive game next month.

CK Akonnor, however, believes Mali were not as good as people think and blamed their loss to lack of organization and not being prepared enough for the encounter.

“I won’t blame the players for the defeat but the key thing which resulted our loss to Mali was that the team was not organized,” Akonnor told Adom TV.

“The players didn’t know themselves because most of them were debutants and even the first time they’re playing together.”

“We trained for only two days and there was lack of understanding as well. These are the few things which affected us during the game”

“Mali didn’t play anything extraordinary but they were an organized side which handed them the victory”

The post Lack of organization caused our defeat – CK Akonnor first appeared on Sahara Football.

Thomas Teye-Partey is buzzing with confidence going into this weekend’s International friendlies against Mali and Qatar. The 28-year-old new Arsenal recruit joined the rest of the Ghana team on Wednesday to train at the Emir Sports complex in Antalya, ahead of Friday’s friendly match against West African neighbours Mali.



Ghana will take on Qatar three days later. Thomas was on hand to speak with ghanafa.org. We asked him about how it feels to work under C.K Akonnor, the quality of players in the Ghana squad and competition for places in the team.

Read on for a full transcript:

On training with national team mates ahead of training 

I feel good, I am so happy to be here again with the Black Stars. About the guys, I think they are doing well, today I can see everyone is trying to do their best, trying you win the heart of the new Coach and I think it’s good, we have a great competition and I think it’s better for the Black Stars.

On C.K Akonnor

Today is not the first day of working with him, you know we already played with him and I think he is doing all he can so that we will be comfortable and you know we won our last game and we will see what will happen against Mali and Qatar.



Competition for places in the team

We are having a good competition in the team; all the guys are training well. I think this will help the team to improve, everyone will be on their feet trying to win the heart of the Coach and also give more pressure on those that think that they are comfortable, it will energise them to be on their toes to fight to maintain their place in the team

On quality of players in the team

I am very happy; we have a lot of quality players in the team. There are so many Ghanaian players out there who are good but not all of us can be here.  Fortunately, we are here because we won the heart of the Coach. And I think it’s a good place to show what we have.

On keeping momentum to win back the love

We have to do our best, make sure we win all our matches like we did previously against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe and with this we will win back the hearts of many Ghanaians also.



source: Ghana FA

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Ghana Blackstars head coach, Charles Kwablan Akonnor has named his 23-man squad, which is billed to take on Mali in an international friendly encounter.



Ghana’s double-header Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier with Sudan was halted as a result of the impact of the novel, COVID-19, which decimated lives globally and brought major worldwide economies down to it’s knees.

Akonnor will have the chance to oversee his first match in charge of the national team since his appointment in Javuary, 2020 against Mali in Antalya, Turkey on Friday, October 9.

The 23 man squad :

Goalkeepers

Richard Ofori (Maritzburg United – South Africa)

Razak Abalora (Unattached)

Richard Ati Zigi (St. Gallen – Switzerland)

Defenders

Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg – France)

Lumor Agbenyenu (Sporting Club – Portugal)

Nicholas Opoku (Amiens – France)

Benson Anang (MSK Zilina – Slovenia)

Yakubu Mohammed (Azam FC – Tanzania)

Kasim Nuhu (Fortuna Düsseldorf  – Germany)

Joseph Aidoo (Celta de Vigo – Spain)

Gideon Mensah (Vitoria de Guimaraes)

Midfielders

Baba Iddrisu (RCD Mallorca – Spain)

Thomas Partey (Atlético Madrid – Spain)

Kudus Mohammed (Ajax – Netherlands)

Bernard Mensah (Besikstas – Turkey)

Emmanuel Lomotey  (Amiens – France)

Forwards

Samuel Owusu (Al Fayha FC – Saudi Arabia)

Andre Ayew (Swansea City – England)

John Antwi  (Pyramid FC – Egypt)

Eugene Ansah (Ironi Kiryat Shmona – Israel)

Jeffery Schlupp (Crystal Palace – England)

Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace – England)

Kamal Deen (FC Nordsjælland)

The post CK Akonnor names 23-man Black Stars squad to face Mali first appeared on Sahara Football.

Ghana coach CK Akonnor has retained Swansea City forward Andre Ayew as Black Stars captain in a recent leadership overhaul within the national team setup.



Thomas Partey comes in for the injury-prone midfield gem Kwadwo Asamoah, who was named as vice-captain of the team before the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, as 1st Vice Captain, with goalkeeper Richard Ofori as 2nd Vice-Captain.

Ayew was named as captain of the national team ahead of Gyan, who had always been touted to maintain the armband prior to the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, which generated so many headlines and disunity within the side resulting in Ghana’s failure and untimely exit from that competition.

Hopefully, the trio with a common goal, objective, and motivation to help the nation with the Africa Cup of Nation trophy which has eluded the nation in three decades will rally support for the country ahead of the Afcon and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Many pundits have praised the decision of CK Akonnor saying it’s a step in the right direction to name the leaders of the national team prior to a major competition which could have stirred up potential problems, others have also dug into the discussion suggesting the exits of Asamoah Gyan and John Boye following their recent snub from captaincy roles.

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Blackstars head coach C. K Akonnor has admonished the difficulty he has in assembling a formidable unit for the national setup.

The former Blackstars player adds that in selecting players to the side, there are a lot of things that go into consideration before one is handed a call-up.

According to him, a player has to be actively playing with his club side in order to persuade the coach and his technical handlers to look his way by handing him a call-up to the Blackstars.

“You look at those who are actively playing, in Ghana, there is nothing happening in our local league, we have been following players in Austria, Germany, England, Denmark, who are actively playing.

We only want to pick the best players and those who can help improve the squad”. he opined on GTV Sports +

CK Akonnor took over the reins of the Blackstars job from former coach James Akwesi Appiah and has been tasked with the mandate of helping Ghana end it’s over three-decade wait for an Afcon trophy.

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