Andre Ayew hails quality of home-based players in Black Stars

Published on: 02 June 2017
Andre Ayew hails quality of home-based players in Black Stars
Andre Ayew

West Ham United ace Andre Ayew has hailed the the qualities of the home-based players in the Ghana squad, urging them to grab the chance to play in the Senior National team, the Black Stars.

The Ghana deputy captain is leading the new-look Black Stars squad in training under new coach Kwesi Appiah in the absence of Asamoah Gyan.

Seven home-based players including four outfield players – Samuel Sarfo, Daniel Darkwah, Nicholas Opoku and Winful Cobbinah are part of the the 30-man squad for Ghana’s upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia next week.

All the three goalkeepers in the squad Felix Annan, Richard Ofori and Joseph Addo are also part of the home-based players for the match to be played in Kumasi on 11 June.

The decision to to hand seven home-based players call-ups to the national team represents a departure from the recent history of the team as few players from the local league have had the chance to play in the Black Stars.

Ayew, who is part of the 17 players currently in training with the Black Stars, is delighted to see the encouraging performance of home-based players in the team.

The West Ham winger insists the seven home-based players must take their chance and grab as permanent place in the squad.

“To be fair, some you know, some you don’t know, but there are a couple of them [local players] I know. You could see that there is quality in the players,” Ayew told the media in the aftermath of the team’s training.

“Okay, we all know that training and games are different ball games. But to be honest, they were up to the task today at training.

“I [have] congratulated all of them already to be here for the first time, [because] it’s not easy to play for the Black Stars. So if you have the chance you have to seize it as best as you can.”

Coach Appiah must reduce the size of squad before they travel to Kumasi early next week for the qualifying match against Ethiopia.

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