Black Stars expected final 26-man squad
Black Stars coach Otto Addo is expected to name his final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and an announcement is expected by the end of the week and most likely on Thursday. However, we present to you our list of players whom we think should be in the squad.
Goalkeepers: Jojo Wollacott, Richard Ofori and Abdul Manaf Nurudeen. We expect these three to maintain their places in the squad with Jojo seemingly having the confidence of the technical team to start whereas Richard Ofori, the dethroned number will offer tough competition and Manaf a good cover. Sorry to Danlad Ibrahim but we wish him good luck next time as for Ati-Zigi, most Ghanaians will be glad he is not part due to his error-prone goalkeeping with the national team
Defenders: Denis Odoi, Abdul Baba Rahman, Tariq Lamptey, Daniel Amartey, Alexander Djiku, Mohammed Salisu and Gideon Mensah. These have been regulars with the coach except Salisu and Tariq who are new to the team but have been courted for so long. Jonathan Mensah would be with a slim chance to make the grade for the sake of experience but the coaches seem not to admire the Columbus Crew centre-back’s football. Stephan Ambrosius is also another good option but he is an injury scare so we see him supporting from home.
Midfielders: Ghana’s midfield seems to be congested now but there are no Sulley Muntari, Michael Essien and Anthony Annan in this team, however, we expect a strong group to be assembled led by Arsenal’s Thomas Teye Partey, Wakaso Mubarak, Andre Ayew, Daniel Kofi-Kyereh, Mohammed Kudus, Salis Abdul Samed, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh and Iddris Baba. These have been Otto Addo’s trusted men and after he said there won’t be many new faces, we assume that those could only be Salis and Daniel Afriyie Barnieh with the latter being the only local player after several calls for a local inclusion by fans.
Wingers: Jordan Ayew, Osman Bukari, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer. Kamaldeen is an injury worry for the team and has only returned to training with Rennes this week. If the injury is a concern then we expect Ernest Nuamah to be drafted in ahead of Joseph Paintsil.
Strikers: goals have been Ghana’s biggest problem in recent times and though the team now has Inaki Williams in its ranks, we still may rely on midfield for goals. However, we expect the strikers to include Inaki Williams, Antoine Semenyo and Kwasi Wriedt.
