Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac is on target to increase competition for regular places in the Black Stars line-up having invited hitherto untouchables back into the team. Captain Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari and Laryea Kingston have joined the squad that crushed Mali and Sudan in June’s World Cup qualifiers. The squad will face Zambia in a friendly in nine days’ time.
The trio missed the qualifiers in June for various reasons but in their absence youngsters like Kwadwo Asamoah, Opoku Agyemang and Prince Tagoe excelled. The Black Stars secured massive away wins over Mali and Sudan and now Rajevac has boosted his squad with the three key players to play the Chipolopolo in London.
The game at Brisbane Road, home of Leyton Orient, which is scheduled for 12 August will see the likes of Richard Kingson, John Pantsil, John Mensah and in-form Matthew Amoah in action.
The Ghana 18-man squad includes two on standby – Haminu Draman and Eric Bekoe will be called in if there is a last-minute withdrawal. The Black Stars are comfortably sitting on top of Group Five of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers with a perfect record and a win against Zambia will further enhance their reputation as the toughest team on the continent so far this year.
Even though the two sides are preparing for their next World Cup qualifiers in September, for Chipolopolo coach Renard Herve, there is more at stake. The Frenchman was a physical trainer for Ghana – a notion he vehemently rejects as he claims he was the assistant to Frenchman Claude Le Roy just at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
Herve now sees the game in London as an opportunity to show Ghana that his coaching talent was not appreciated in the West African country.
A convincing win over the Black Stars will make Ghanaians stand up and take notice but Serbian coach Rajevac wants to keep up the winning momentum in his squad which should make the game exciting.
