Kwasi Appiah has selected 23 players to begin Ghana’s campaign for a ticket to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
The Black Stars, housed in Group C of the qualifiers, are scheduled to host Bafana Bafana of South Africa on Thursday November 14, 2019 at Cape Coast Stadium before travelling to face São Tomé and Príncipe on Monday the 18th.
In what will be his first assignment since a poor outing at the 2019 Afcon, coach Appiah has sent strong signals of building a new team by handing first-time call-ups to seven players – Shafiu Mumuni, Iddrisu Baba, Christopher Antwi-Adjei, Kudus Mohammed, Torric Jebrin, Razak Abalora and Salifu Mohammed.
There are returns for Sassuolo midfielder Alfred Duncan, Udinese centre-back Nicholas Opoku and US-based full-back Harrison Afful. The trio missed out on the Afcon due to fitness issues. Also back in the team are China-based striker Emmanuel Boateng and Patrick Twumasi, who is currently on loan at Turkish side Gazişehir Gaziantep.
Captain Andre Ayew, Mubarak Wakaso, Jordan Ayew, Richard Ofori, Felix Annan, Thomas Partey, Samuel Owusu, Joseph Aidoo, Andy Yiadom, Lumor Agbenyenu and Kasim Adams Nuhu are 11 players from the Afcon squad that have been retained by coach Kwasi Appiah.
The Black Stars are expected to begin training in Cape Coast from Monday, November 11.
Ghana will be seeking to place among the top two teams in Group C border to secure qualification to Cameroon 2021 Afcon Sudan are the other group members.
Invited players:
Goalkeepers (3):
Richard Ofori (Maritzburg FC, South Africa), Felix Annan (Asante Kotoko, Ghana), Razak Abalora (Azam FC, Tanzania)
Defenders (7):
Andy Yiadom (Reading, England), Harrison Afful (Columbus Crew, USA), Lumor Agbenyenu (Real Mallorca, Spain), Joseph Aidoo (Celta Vigo, Spain), Kasim Adams Nuhu (Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany), Nicholas Opoku (Udinese, Italy), Mohammed Salisu (Real Valladolid, Spain)
Midfielders (6):
Samuel Owusu (Al Fahya, Saudi Arabia), Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Alfred Duncan (Sassuolo, Italy), Mubarak Wakaso (Deportivo Alaves, Spain), Iddrisu Baba (Real Mallorca, Spain), Christopher Antwi-Adjei (SC Paderborn, Germany)
Forwards (7):
Andre Ayew (Swansea, England), Mohammed Kudus (FC Nordsjaelland, Denmark), Emmanuel Boateng (Dalian Yifang, China), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace, England), Torric Jebrin (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Shafiu Mumuni (AshantiGold), Patrick Twumasi (Gazişehir Gaziantep, Turkey)
