Aduana Stars Management Member & Sports Analyst Collins Atta Poku has expressed concern over the withdrawal of eight players from the Black Stars’ 25-man squad, named by head coach Otto Addo, ahead of the crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Angola and Niger.
🎥 Training Day 1: Accra Sports Stadium 🏟️ #BlackStars | #AFCON2025Q pic.twitter.com/Y4vG479fPe
— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) November 12, 2024
Players who have opted out for various reasons include Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams, Jonas Adjetey, Tariq Lamptey, Jerome Opoku, Alexander Djiku, Ibrahim Osman, and Joseph Paintsil.
They have been replaced by Osman Bukari (Austin FC), Ransford Yeboah Königsdörffer (Hamburger SV), Forson Amankwah (Norwich City), Terry Yegbe (IF Elfsborg), Ebenezer Annan (OFK Beograd), and Kingsley Schindler (Samsunspor).
In an interview with Citi Sports, Atta Poku noted that such a mass withdrawal is unprecedented and reflects the reality that the Black Stars may no longer hold the same standing they once did.
It actually paints the gloomy picture of this affecting our reality now.
This has not happened to us before, you would have one or two excusing themselves but to have eight players excusing themselves.
What it means is that going forward we would have to accept the reality of where we are currently and ensure that we accept to build a team that would be capable of contesting for the bigger trophies on the continent and in the world.
Let me be real here , do you think any of these guys would have jump ship if we had already qualified for the world cup and we were struggling to qualify for the African cup of nations?”
The team is set to train behind closed doors at the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday before flying out to Angola later that day.
🚨The squad is beginning to take shape as players join camp. ⛺️🇬🇭#BlackStars | #AFCON2025Q pic.twitter.com/oRqzsidqDj
— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) November 12, 2024
The squad number for the team has now increased from eight to twenty-two, with Day 2 of the training sessions to take place at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
