Posted On Thursday, 8th August 2013
Both Assifuah and Acheampong impressed at the World Cup
Coach Akwasi Appiah has turned down the opportunity of calling up any of the Ghana U20 players for the international friendly match against Turkey.
The Black Stars are scheduled to engage Turkey in the friendly game next week in Istanbul.
Many expected some of the players that excelled in the Black Satellites team that finished third in this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup to feature in the Black Stars squad for the friendly match.
This expectation arouse from coach Appiah’s own revelation of being impressed with ‘about four’ of the players at the World Cup which was hosted by Turkey.
Striker Ebenezer Assifuah was one of such players many expected to be in the Black Stars team after clinching the top scorer’s award at the tournament.
Clifford Aboagye was also touted following his excellent displays that earned him the bronze ball award handed to the third best player.
Seidu Salifu – often likened to Michael Essien also caught the eye of many Ghanaians as well as Frank Acheampong, Baba Rahman and Joseph Attamah.
But none of these players made the cut of Black Stars invitees for next week’s friendly in Istanbul.
This will disappoint many Ghanaians as a friendly match is seen as a fine opportunity for coaches to assess not already established players but also the talents coming through.
This will surely be seen as a missed opportunity to hand these young lads an opportunity to prove whether indeed they are ripe for full international football as it was did a few years ago which ensured many more talents are unearthed upon which the current Black Stars team thrives.