Black Stars Head Coach Kwesi Appiah has included seven debutants in his 23-man squad for Ghana’s upcoming AFCON 2021 Qualifiers against South Africa and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Ashanti Gold forward Shafiu Mumuni’s brilliant form in recent months has earned him a call up along with former Hearts of Oak ace Torric Jibril, with Denmark based Mohammed Kudus also receiving his first call up after his fine form this season.
The seven debutants are:
Torric Jibril
He currently plays as an attacking midfielder for Congolese side, TP Mazembe, he began his career as an attacker for premier league side, Accra Hearts of Oak. In January 2011, Jibril signed a two and half year deal with Turkish side Bucaspor. He played for the club 26 times, scoring three goals.
Iddrisu Baba
Iddrisu Baba plays for Spanish club RCD Mallorca as a midfielder. He has made ten La Liga appearances for Real Mallorca so far this season. Baba moved to Spain at an early age and joined RCD Mallorca’s youth setup in January 2014, from CD Leganés.
Christopher Antwi-Adjei
He is a German-Ghanaian footballer who plays as a midfielder for German Bundesliga side SC Paderborn. Since joining Paderborn in 2017, he has scored 8 league goals after making 38 appearances.
Mohammed Salisu
The robust central defender joined Real Valladolid’s youth setup in October 2017 from Nsawam based African Talent Football Academy. He made his first senior appearance for the side in August 2019 and scored his first ever La Liga goal two months later in a 2-0 win for Real Valladolid against Eibar.
Razak Abalora
Razak Abalora is a former West African Football Academy shot stopper who plays for Tanzanian side, Azam FC. He was a member of the Black Stars B team before leaving the shores of the country three years ago.
Shafiu Mumuni
The AshantiGold goal machine bagged four goals in four games for his side in the CAF Confederation Cup qualifiers, and also emerged top goal scorer at the just ended 2019 WAFU Cup of Nations where he scored four goals in four games for the Black Stars team B on their way to a second place finish at the competition.
Mohammed Kudus
Kudus Mohammed plays as a forward for Danish side FC Nordsjælland. Kudus got his official debut for FCN only 3 days after his 18th birthday, in a 0-2 defeat against Brøndby IF. With his debut, he became the 9th youngest debutant in the history of FC Nordsjælland. He also represented Ghana at Under 17 level at the World Cup back in 2017.
Ghana will face South Africa’s Bafana Bafana on November 14 at the Cape Coast Stadium, before travelling to São Tomé and Príncipe four days later to take on the Seleção dos Falcões e Papagaios.