Stephen Adams named in Ghana squad to face Montenegro, Jordan Ayew returns

Published on: 24 February 2014
Stephen Adams named in Ghana squad to face Montenegro, Jordan Ayew returns
Stephen Adams is in Ghana's squad to face Montenegro

Home-based goalkeeper Stephen Adams has been handed a call-up to the Black Stars to face Montenegro in a pre-World Cup friendly match next week while John Boye and Jordan Ayew return to Kwesi Appiah's team after missing the two previous matches.

The 21-man squad for the match against Montenegro is dominated by players who are expected to make Kwesi Appiah's squad for the World Cup in June.

Top players Asamoah Gyan, Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, Kwadwo Asamoah, Andre Ayew, Abdul Majeed Waris and in-form Emmanuel Agyemang Badu are all part of the squad.

This shows that coach Appiah is set in his mind about which of his key players will go to the World Cup thus he will use the match against Montenegro to start his preparations.

The match will be played on 5 March in Podgorica at the City Stadium.

But there are still places in the squad to be filled which looks to have resulted in the call-up for a new goalkeeper to compete with Kwarasey, Fatau Dauda and Daniel Agyei for places in the squad.

Dauda and Agyei who play in the South African top-flight were left out while Kwarasey who is in top form in pre-season in Norway was included.

Aduana Stars goalkeeper Adams returns to the squad thanks to his excellent showing at the Africa Nations Championship last month where he steered the Local Black Stars to the final of the tournament in South Africa.

His form looks to have convinced coach Appiah that he deserves another chance to fight for a position before the squad for the World Cup is named in June.

Boye, who missed Ghana's two previous World Cup qualifiers against Egypt in Kumasi and Cairo, returns to the fold after recovering from the thigh injury that nearly marred his perfect season in the French top-flight.

Also returning to the fold is Jordan Ayew who was also not available for the matches in in Kumasi and Cairo but having secured impressive playing time on loan with Sochaux, Appiah wants want to give the last son of legend Abedi Pele the chance.

His elder brother Andre Ayew is in the team as he has recovered from the injury that kept him out of action since suffering that setback on the match against Egypt in Cairo in November last year.

Boye who missed the two qualifiers against Egypt has recovered from the thigh injury and he will partner in-form central defenders Jonathan Mensah and Jerry Akaminko.

The wing-backs for the match are Harrison Afful, Samuel Inkoom, Daniel Opare and David Addy while midfielders Albert Adomah, Mubarak Wakaso and Christian Atsu are in team.

It will be the last friendly match for Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah before he names his squad for the 2014 World Cup.

It will also be the Black Stars first game of the year and the final chance for players to impress the coach before he names his team for the competition in Brazil in June.

Ghana will face European countries Germany and Portugal in Group G at the World Cup with the United States as the last team in the group.

Ghana squad:

Goalkeepers: Adam Kwarasey (Stromgodset, Norway), Stephen Adams (Aduana Stars)

Defenders: Harrison Afful (Esperance, Tunisia), Samuel Inkoom (Platanias, Greece), Daniel Opare (Standard Liege, Belgium), David Addy (Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal), Jerry Akaminko (Eskisehirspor, Turkey), John Boye (Rennes, France), Jonathan Mensah (Evian, France)

Midfielders: Michael Essien (AC Milan, Italy), Sulley Muntari (AC Milan, Italy), Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus, Italy), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Schalke, Germany), Emmanuel Agyemang Badu (Udinese, Italy), Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough, England), Mubarak Wakaso (Rubin Kazan, Russia), Christian Atsu (Vitesse Arnhem, Holland), Andre Ayew (Marseille, France)

Strikers: Asamoah Gyan (Al Ain, UAE), Abdul Majeed Waris (Valenciennes, Italy), Jordan Ayew (Marseille, France)

Are you satisfied with the players called for the match? Do you think some other players should have been called? Make your views known in the box below:

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